Love Is Blind
by AdventRain
Summary: Within Temptation Re-Write. Doomed for eternity to a life of darkness, only fate could have allowed him to find his light. From loneliness and disregard, to finding hope and a love that is blind; in more ways than one... SasuSaku. Slight AU.
1. Prologue: Accidents

**Prologue: Accidents.**

He sat silently next to the icy window pane. Young and dark haired, he pressed his open palm against the glass, both hearing and feeling the heavy rain drops splatter against the other side. Gusts of wind brushed against the side of the building, yet through the natural sounds of the storm brewing outside, the constant hustle and bustle of the traffic on the streets below could be faintly heard.

It was undoubtedly night time. The rest of the hospital had become quiet, allowing for the dull hum of the luminescent lights of the hallway to be added to the symphony of sounds. Despite the constant flow and change of time, the boy had remained sitting by the window sill for most of the day. He couldn't explain the need not to move an inch, nor the need to sit beside the window, the likes of which he would never be able to see through again.

He reached up and touched the bandages that were wrapped around his eyes and flinched.

They still hurt. Why him? Why did it have to happen to _him?_

****f l a s h b a c k*******

"_Are we there yet?" A young eight year old Uchiha Sasuke asked his parents. _

"_Honestly Sasuke, it's only been five minutes since the last time you asked. We'll get there when we get there, okay?" His father, Uchiha Fugaku, replied in a stern but calm voice. _

"_Okay…" Sasuke mumbled while turning to look out the car window. _

"_Why don't we turn on the radio?" Sasuke's mother suggested. Fugaku nodded in agreement, knowing it might keep his youngster quiet for the last bit of their journey. _

_In the backseat, Sasuke continued to fidget from boredom while thinking about the exciting day they had planned as soon as the monotonous car ride was over. Earlier that morning, his mother had agreed that they would go to the Cherry Blossom Festival for the very first time. Since that moment, happiness had found its way into each of their spirits and Sasuke felt nothing could ruin his day._

_The car slowly rolled to a stop as they came to a red light. The boy's parents were lightly conversing in the front seat when suddenly Uchiha Fugaku's voice rose._

"_What does that guy think he's doing!" He exclaimed._

_Across the street, a truck was racing along at an almost unimaginable speed, disregarding the red light. It swerved abruptly as it fishtailed into the intersection, heading directly in the direction of the Uchiha's small car. _

_The truck driver was drunk. _

_In a split second, the tractor trailer smashed head-on to the front end of their car. The car could have been a pop-can being stamped on by a human foot for all the damage it took. The very last thing Sasuke saw were his parents throwing their arms up to shield themselves from the impact and the glass of the windshield smashing into a million sparkling shards. _

****e n d f l a s h b a c k****

Twenty-four hours ago, he was happy. From the moment he had woken up laying in starched white sheets and a metal-framed hospital bed, he had been anything but. Nothing could describe the feeling he had when his eyes seemingly wouldn't open. During the first moments when he realized he _was _in fact opening his eyes yet all he found was darkness, panic had set in.

All he had known then was darkness and pain. Along with the new-found bandages, he'd discovered he had lost all recollection of what had occurred to him since the moment of the collision.

The doctors came into his hospital room an hour after he had woken and began to tell him the news that would change his life from that moment on.

His parents had died in the accident.

The initial panic of total blackness when he had wakened had been nothing compared to the panic and misery he felt when he discovered that no tears would come. He could not cry; to attempt was unbearably painful.

The doctors continued speaking, though he only heard fragments of what they were telling him.

Through his pain and grief, he understood the damage he had taken to his body. Most importantly, he grasped that the shards of glass from the broken windshield, with their sick beauty, had cut into his face.

While the cuts on his flesh were tended to quickly enough to avoid scarring, they could not mend the damage to his eyes. Removing the glass and bandaging the wounds were the best they could do.

The doctors left his room. They left him alone to cry without tears.

Vivid images from the collision flashed before his mind as the boy sat beside the window sill listening to the sounds of the rain. The doctors made continuous regulatory checks on him since their fateful words of yesterday.

Guilt seeped into the boy's veins as he questioned the consequences of his actions. It had been he who had asked they attend the Festival. Without him, would his parents still be alive?

Again, he gently touched the bandages around his eyes. It was becoming a habit of sorts because he knew one thing was for certain.

All that was left for him now was darkness. He would never be able to see anything ever again.

He was blind.

**Author's Note:** Ahhh yes it's me again! I know it's been …goodness, almost three years since I've last updated anything on FanFiction but after the fiasco (as described on my profile page) I'm just happy I finally got up the determination to get something done! So, I've finally begun re-writing this story with complete intention to finish this one. Since I'm re-writing it, much of the story itself will be the same but a lot of the immaturity (in style, grammar, etc.) will have been fixed or completely erased. You could probably get away with just reading the last chapter I post in this version if you don't feel like re-reading the whole thing. Still, there'll be some interesting new bits and some editing here and there, and if you liked the first version I'm certain you'll love this one :D (hopefully) haha comments and criticisms are always appreciated! Missed all you guys too! It's thanks to every single one of my reviewers and user's who added me to their watch lists that I never fully let go of this project  thanks for the support everyone!


	2. Chapter 1: Solecism

**Chapter 1: Solecism**

It had been nearly nine years since his bandages had been removed. Now, as a young man, he felt more than sorrow and more than misery. Within him, there grew a great disdain for the turn his life had taken.

Uchiha Sasuke still recalls the night nine years ago that they brought him 'home'. He still remembers the stillness in his once lively abode. Silence could not have defined the dead air that had pressed upon the young boy's ears. The lingering smells of his mother's perfume, his father's aftershave...

He had never weeped such tearless sobs before in his short life. They had laid out the situation quite plainly to him. Sympathy at that point seemed almost cruel. The village would dispatch other relatives of the Uchiha clan to watch over him, tutor him, and guide him until such a time where he could take care of himself. Sasuke would also be given special guidance and training of his other senses to try and compensate for the lack of his eyesight.

While it was the best the village could do for him at the time, Sasuke resented their efforts.

His relatives were many whom he had never met before, and none of them stayed for very long. No one lived with him twenty-four hours a day; there were only frequent visitors.

And perhaps from the outside, the decisions of the village may have been considered callous and distasteful. Sasuke, however, knew he had been taught something important through the pathetic setting he was given. He had been taught to rely only upon himself; to never need to hold someone's hand for help; and to never again form deep bonds with others.

Even if it had made him grow distant, he became strong and dependent solely on himself. Even if he had grown to be cold-hearted, he would never have to bare the pain of losing someone dear to him again.

He would continually tell himself that if he never had anyone important to him in his life, he would never have to suffer loss again. Those words helped abate the sadness of loneliness whenever they tried to seep back into his heart.

Over the years, Sasuke became accustomed to having lost his eyesight. His instincts grew sharper and sharper. By habituation, he could manoeuvre through his life in a seemingly normal fashion. He could vaguely determine the outlines of various objects. He could tell when someone entered or left a room. His actions from afar would never have indicated that he was blind; it wasn't usually until a person caught sight of the dull grey color of his eyes that they would have drawn such a conclusion. For this reason, Sasuke owned multiple pairs of sunglasses to wear whenever another person was present.

To be treated differently was loathed by him. Even if it may have seemed cowardly to try and hide his blindness, the less people stared, the less he had to remember how different he was from everyone else and the less he had to be reminded of the reason for why his world was sheer darkness.

Perhaps different was an understatement. Sasuke knew his case was not only different, but extremely rare-maybe to the point of setting a precedent.

Rare, because very few in the village were ever blind. Unprecedented because he was, as far as he had understood, the first blind ninja.

The village had refused his admittance to the ninja academy. They believed only personal tutelage was necessary; in the confines of his own home. The tutors themselves however, would never last any longer than a day or two before they grew fed up or tired of the boy's attitude.

Sasuke would pretend to ignore the tutors or outright disobey their instruction. No matter the rank of the tutor, genin, chuunin, or jounin, even to the village's Hokage, Sasuke remained disobedient and unnerving. The Hokage needn't question the young Uchiha as to his behaviour; it was rather apparent that he hated them. Every single one of them.

The village, afterall, pitied him. He was just a blind, lonely, child who would never amount to anything; who could never possibly become a true ninja. Through their inability to accept a blind youth whole-heartedly, they lost sight of how strong Sasuke had become throughout the years. It was possible that he had become even stronger than the rest at the ninja academy.

As the onslaught of tutors and their false pretences to train Sasuke began to ease, he took it upon himself to train harder and harder every day. His goal was simple: to prove his worth as a ninja of high ranking-despite his…condition.

When he had reached the age of twelve, he had been brought to the ninja academy for the proper graduation ceremony and the acceptance of his forehead protector. This, Sasuke knew, was merely to keep him content. It was merely a façade. For a long while after the ceremony, he was the big news. How could they have let a blind boy become a genin?

As if the village believed he could be so easily fooled; they even went as far as adding him to Team 7, in hopes it may have lightened Sasuke's outlook. But the team itself was a joke.

It consisted of an annoying yellow haired boy named Uzumaki Naruto, who was considered the number one loudest ninja in Konoha, a pink haired girl name Haruno Sakura who was amongst those few of their class to receive top grades, and the jounin teacher Hatake Kakashi whose greatest hobby was to read erotic novels. Adding himself, an Uchiha who could not use Sharingan, the team was destined to never proceed in ninja ranks at all. Perhaps it was this, the failing of team seven, that was the village's true hopes.

Despite the jumbled mess of a team, they entered and competed in the chuunin exams. It came as no shock to Sasuke that many, including the Hokage, protested their actions. Letting Sasuke try for the rank of chuunin was beyond ridiculous in the eyes of many. Regardless, the team passed and became ninja of chuunin rank. With his gained rank, Sasuke began to believe that the rest of the town may begin to forget that he was blind and finally accept his abilities. But he was wrong.

It seemed to have the reverse effect. They seemed to become even more uneasy, maybe even beginning to hate the false seeds of hope they believed they planted in Sasuke. How on earth could they have let him pass?

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Haruno Sakura still remembers the day it was announced the Uchiha Sasuke would be joining her team, and smiles. He was definitely the most handsome boy she had ever seen. It was no secret that he had his own fan club consisting of many girls vying for his attention. To them, it didn't even matter that he was blind. Still, he ignored them knowing that they only adored him because of his looks.

Sakura understood that Sasuke had formed an impenetrable fortress of ice around his heart. He had faced so much more sorrow in his life than she could ever imagine. Someday, she hoped she could slowly melt the ice and re-integrate him into normal socialization. After all, being as cold as he was and shutting himself up in his house whenever the team wasn't training couldn't be healthy.

She knew that while she still couldn't get over how attractive he was, all romantic interest was lost as she began to understand him over the past five years. Cold-shouldered and aggressive, even caustic at times, he was certainly not the kind of man you'd take home to your parents.

The morning was overcast and grey. While it would have made most feel gloomy, something about the grey skies made her feel comfortable and protected. She thought about all this as she hurriedly scrambled to get ready for team seven's early morning training session. As she double-checked every instrument attached to her belt, she heard a knock on her door. Before she could open it however, a voice spoke:

"A message for you Haruno Sakura from the Hokage. She would like to see you in her office in five minutes. Thank you." The messenger could be heard departing.

"Five minutes? But that means I'll be late for training!" Sakura spoke to thin air.

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There came a knock on the door to the Hokage's office five minutes later.

"Come in Sakura." She answered. Sakura did as she was told and soon found her self staring at a very troubled looking Tsunade.

"Um, you wanted to see me?"

"Yes…Now I know you have early training today, but this really couldn't wait." Tsunade began, motioning for Sakura to take a seat. "It's about your team-mate, Uchiha Sasuke."

"Oh…" Sakura shifted slightly in her chair. Something seemed a little off with Tsunade, not to mention she couldn't understand why there was an urgency to discuss something to do with Sasuke.

"It really isn't a secret that the village elders and I are concerned about Sasuke's growing strength as a ninja. This concern has been growing ever since he graduated the chuunin exams five years ago. And now…well, it's not only Konoha, but other villages as well are taking a deep interest in him."

"Well, I have been hearing things but I didn't think tha-" Sakura started.

"When I say 'interest', its nothing but a negative one. It has come to be a very serious issue," The Hokage interrupted. "As such, they do not think that he should be allowed to continue on with the title of ninja. They say it's never been seen before and that there can never be a blind ninja. They don't trust in his abilities and know that his goal is ridiculous...Missions are very serious business Sakura…"Tsunade sighed and rubbed her temples, " No matter how greatly he's increased his other instincts, it's still dangerous to have him along. There's really no telling what may happen."

"But Sasuke has never, ever, hurt anyone by mistake or ever missed a target. It's incredible! They've all seen him in action! How can they say he's dangerous when you can hardly tell he's lost his eyesight!" Sakura felt some great injustice was being had, and she wanted nothing more than to put a stop to it.

"I know, Sakura, but the risk is still there. You must understand…Taking away his rank would entirely remove the risk…"

"No! It's completely unfair! He's never done anything to deserve people thinking he's a danger to our missions or to Konoha…Can't you do something about it?"

"I am only one person. The town comes first. But…I did think of one way the village may slowly start to accept Sasuke. I struck a sort of bargain. I made a deal with the village that if Sasuke receives one last tutor, who could watch over him and ensure no mistakes were had…Maybe they'd let him hold onto his title." The Hokage suddenly looked very tired and stressed.

"Why…?" Sakura didn't understand. Of any number of ideas, how would a tutor help anymore now than it did in all the past years? It was common knowledge that the young Uchiha's tutors never lasted more than a day or two.

"It's a complex situation Sakura…I think if the village sees that he has an aide of sorts…Someone who can not only watch his back, but who can _really _help him. All along he's been pushing people away and growing anti-social. His missing spirit somehow. The last thing we all need is a rogue ninja. The other villages are worried that, with his attitude and his impairment, he could become a threat. They worry that he'll become some sort of introverted, cold-hearted monster if our village continues on this way. What worries me more is that no one is really concerned with Sasuke's well-being but more so the damage that may come from everything he's been put through."

"I don't…I mean I…" Sakura started, "What I mean to ask is, while this is all troubling and upsetting, what does this have to do with me? It seems like something the elders and you should be discussing…"

"I'm just going to cut to the chase; I want you, Sakura, to become his tutor. I figured it should be someone from his team that sort of knows what he's like and seeing as Naruto isn't exactly tutor material…I chose you for the job. You will be staying at his house. It is quite large and I think having someone else there will do him some good. You only have one month to try and help him unfortunately…Everyone wants to see some sort of results within that time if they are to seriously reconsider stripping him of his rank. After that however, if there's been no improvement or progress, or if they think an aide won't be enough, they'll be forced to do what they think will be best in the long run for everyone." The Hokage said studying Sakura's expression.

Sakura was speechless. It was a heavy burden to bear if she accepted…

If she accepted? What was she thinking…There was no way she could not accept. Her team mate was in risk of losing his ability to be deemed a ninja. The political powers of her world were being unjust…There was some sort of discrimination taking place here and she couldn't just stand by and not try her hardest to help out. It was in her nature. Regardless of how awkward it may be to be suddenly thrown into someone else's life, especially the life of Uchiha Sasuke…She had to try.

"Ok…I'll do it…" she answered after a moment of silence.

"You have no idea how relieved I am to have you helping me with this Sakura. You'll start tomorrow. Do your best." Tsunade's posture visibly looked more relaxed.

Sakura nodded and stood to leave.

"Oh, and Sakura?" Tsunade called.

Sakura paused and turned to look at Tsunade's motherly expression.

"Thank you." She smiled.

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Author's Note: Well, I have to say I like this version of Chapter 1 much better as it makes just a bit more sense and has a bit more accuracy/consistency than the original. It's also more well-rounded in all with a lot less random blurbs. I hope you all enjoyed it also :D Comments and criticisms appreciated!


	3. Chapter 2: This Photograph Is Proof

**Chapter 2: This Photograph Is Proof**

He sat up with a start; cold sweat on his face. He struggled to regain control of his breathing before trying to shake the images of the dream he'd just been having. It was the same, reoccurring dream he had every night. It was always the very last scenes he had seen in his life…Images of the violent accident that had claimed the lives of his parents…

Once he calmed himself down enough to sharpen his senses, he realized that the only sound his precise hearing could detect were those coming from the open window, those of the pouring rain.

He hated the rain. It was the only thing he had heard after losing his sight and it seemed to rain more frequently since the day of the tragedy. Or perhaps it was simply because he paid more attention to the small things now than he ever had before. Either way, he still detested it. Whenever he found himself in the rain, the sounds of the world around him, as well as all his other senses, became distorted and dampened.

He got up, throwing the blankets off to the side, and snapped the window shut. He paused for a moment, to press his palm against the glass. The slight tapping of the rain drops hummed and vibrated against the window pane, creating a dull lulling background noise.

"Tch"_, _he muttered under his breath, then thought, _how annoying. _

He abruptly turned away from the window. Figuring that now he was up, there would be no use to go back to bed, regardless of the time. He went to his dresser and pulled out some clothes which were always washed, folded, and put neatly into the second drawer to the left. Keeping everything where it should be was the key to living without eyesight. This way, he would know exactly what he was doing, or wearing, without needing any help.

He then proceeded to the bathroom and slowly took a shower. There was no rush to hurry, assuming he had woken rather early.

When he had finished and dressed, he couldn't help but thinking that nine years ago he would still be sound asleep with his parents in the next room down the hall. Quickly shaking the thought, he reminded himself that those days were long gone.

He was alone. Always was, and always will be, no matter how many people came to visit.

Uchiha Sasuke did not care. The only person he could ever trust was himself. There was no need for anyone else to come bursting into his life like so many others had attempted to do. He headed downstairs.

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The rain came harder and faster as a girl with pink hair ran towards her destination cursing the useless umbrella. She ran right up to the door of a large house and nearly bashed it down in want of sanctuary from the rain shower that soaked her to the bone. Instead, reminding herself of proper etiquette, she knocked loudly hoping that the owner of the house would answer.

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Just as he reached the kitchen, he heard thunderous knocks coming from his front door.

_Who could it be at this time? _He wondered, _Maybe I should have stayed in bed._

As far as he knew, no relatives had any scheduled visits for at least another three weeks. As he walked through the hallway to the door, he began to hope it was just some poor villager trying to sell his goods. He was actually beginning to look forward to some peace for the next little while…

Cautiously, he answered the door, feeling a person push past him. He closed the door in his distaste for the rain and at once recognized the faint scent of cherry blossoms through the smell of the dampness.

It was the Haruno girl from his team. It must have been later in the morning than he had first guessed.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he asked calmly, though his voice resonated with clear irritation. He didn't want any company.

Sakura was slightly surprised that he knew who she was before she had even said anything. Not to mention the fact that his reaction showed he didn't know _why _she was here.

Tsunade had informed him hadn't she?

_Oh this is going to be fun…_She thought sarcastically.

"Good morning to you too then." She answered in that same annoying voice he heard everyday.

Sakura paused to take a quick look around the inside of the house she had never stepped foot into before. The first thing she noticed was that there were no lights on despite how dark the cloudy day had made the interior. Though she guessed it was to be expected; what use were any lights if you couldn't see anything in the first place?

Realizing the beginnings of an uncomfortable silence, she turned her attention back to Sasuke. For a brief second, her breath caught.

For the first time since she had known him, he wasn't wearing his usual sunglasses to cover his eyes. For a moment she forgot all reason and found herself lost in their misty grey depths…

Sasuke grew uncomfortable as he realized that she was staring at him. He had grown accustomed to the way people stared at him on the street with those pitying stares. But she wasn't exactly looking at him with pity, he sensed. She was looking at him with…wonder?

Realizing that he'd forgotten his usual sunglasses, he quickly turned away and averted his eyes.

"What do you want?" he asked coldly, snapping her out of her surprise.

"I'm going to be your new tutor." She stated bluntly. There was no point delaying the inevitable. As she had expected, he didn't show any emotions.

"Get out." He said, more viciously than Sakura had anticipated.

"No, I won't." She argued flatly. His reaction didn't completely shock her. After all, she seemed rather ridiculous even to herself.

She was just standing there, soaking wet, trying to convince the coldest guy in town that she had the right to burst into his home and intrude on his life.

_Ridiculous, _she agreed to herself though none of her determination wavered in the slightest.

"I said leave." He said stoically.

"And I told you no!" she said sternly. He turned back towards her.

"Why?"

"The Hokage herself chose me for this job. If you have a problem with it, go take it up with her." She answered defiantly.

"Fine, I will."

With that, he turned, opened the door, and stormed out slamming it behind him.

Sakura blanched for a moment, at first too stunned to move. She hurried to the window in the living room and looked out. She desperately hoped to see him turning around, realizing that he'd just left one of his team members in his home on her own. But instead he continued on, and for the first time she saw him stumble.

It was so uncharacteristic of him that she wondered just how much she had unnerved him.

_It must be the rain…_She reasoned.

A very long ten minutes slowly ticked by as she continued to stare at the spot where she had seen his retreating figure disappear. Finally giving up on seeing his return and wondering how long it could take him to get to the office and back, she turned away from the window, dry now from standing by a heating vent.

Looking around the house once more, she perceived its true size and simplicity. There were of course the usual furnishings required for everyday living, but no more than what was necessary existed in this space. What was more, not a single picture or painting could be seen. All the colors were neutral or of darker shades, including browns, deep blues and blacks, setting a very ominous, lonely, mood. As she took a brief tour around the rest of the home, she constantly got the feeling that something was missing. Though she knew the house was occupied, it felt strangely cold and almost abandoned as if not one happy moment had been spent in the house for a very long time.

When she reached the first bedroom nearest the top of the stairs, she looked in. It was obviously _his _room. The bed was unmade and various items were strategically placed for every-day use. It was evident someone spent a lot of there time here. Nothing else was very different from the rest of the house; it was also simple and dark, save for one small picture on the bedside table.

It was a picture of Sasuke and his parents, just before the accident, judging by the date on the back.

A single tear fell from her emerald eyes as she saw how happy he looked. His smile was radiant. It almost bothered her how she had trouble recognizing that it was the same boy she had just encountered no more than twenty minutes ago. He looked calm, peaceful, and so very _happy. _

She wondered if that is what he would be like now if it wasn't for the accident…

"Why the hell are you in here?" demanded a cold voice from the doorway.

She spun around and nearly dropped the picture.

He was back.

"I-I was just-"She stammered. She knew she had crossed some invisible line by the look on his face.

"What?" He demanded. He looked livid.

She brushed away the tear as he approached her. She knew it was stupid but somehow she knew he would know that she was crying.

He guessed she had been snooping around his room and had no doubt found _that_ picture. He came up to her and put his hand on her upper arm. She shivered as she felt his strong hand slide down her arm and stop at her hand where she still held the photo.

He knew it. She had seen the only picture he owned. He snatched it away from her.

"You're never to come back in here! Do you understand me?" he almost snarled. His face was barely an inch away from hers. Though his eyes weren't exactly focused on hers, the full ferocity of them could be felt regardless. He pushed her out of his way and quickly shoved the picture into the top drawer of his bedside table.

"I-I'm sorry... I didn't mean to." She managed to croak out.

"The world is full of 'didn't mean to's." He snapped back. "Now go get your shit and bring it to the spare bedroom."

Her eyes widened in shock.

"I'm staying?" she asked, bewilderment overwhelming the guilt.

"It's not like I have any choice in the matter now is it?" he replied dully. He obviously wasn't impressed, but the slight change of subject seemed to alleviate some of his anger.

Sakura suddenly wondered how much of the truth Tsunade had told him. She couldn't have explained the entire situation, so what made him change his mind? _That,_ she thought, _is something I'll probably never know._

She hurried out of the room not chancing a glance back. She knew she'd never dare go back in there; or at the very least, not without clear invitation.

She rushed downstairs, grabbed her suitcase, then hulled it back upstairs and brought it to the room across from his. She opened the door and found herself in another place devoid of happiness.

The walls were stark white, the bed had black blankets, the curtains were also black and the furniture was brown. She sighed at the depressed mood surrounding her new living quarters.

_Just make it through day one Sakura,_ she thought to herself, _then you can make it through the rest of this dreaded month. _

Or so she hoped.

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**Author's Note:** Alright so this Chapter wasn't nearly as edited as much as the other two, but there was still quite a bit of riffraff cut from some of the content; just some unnecessary junk. I'm still getting a better vibe from this version of the story than the first. It's definitely forming into a better written, less childish fic; well I hope so at least. Reviews are appreciated :D Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 3: Vexation

**Chapter 3: Vexation**

The next morning Sakura woke up with bags under her eyes, and for a second she forgot where she was. One quick glance around her at the dreary décor of her surroundings was all it took for her to recall the events of the past few days. She was currently sitting on the edge of a bed in the guest room of an Uchiha household.

_So it wasn't just a bad dream after all, _she sighed inwardly to herself, _what a job I have ahead of myself._

She stood up in her pink nightgown and walked over to the double glass doors at the back of the room. She then pulled open the thick black curtains that had kept the room perfectly dark throughout the night. She slid open the door, and stepped onto the cool grey stone that made up the balcony that overlooked the vast garden which must have been at one time the most marvellous feature of the property. Now, however, the garden was fairly overgrown to the point where it had become almost impossible to judge where the property ended and the lush trees of a forest began.

As fresh air filled her lungs, her thoughts wandered back to the hell of a day that was yesterday. After the picture fiasco, both she and Sasuke had missed more than half of their training session. For that, their punishment was double the hours of strenuous work as Kakashi-sensei treated Naruto to ramen. Not only had she forgotten to eat what with all the commotion, but the stress of the recent predicament along with the rainy weather had made training an exceptional nightmare.

Once they were finally allowed to turn in for the day, she had followed Sasuke back to his home. As if that action alone wasn't awkward enough, as soon as they had crossed the threshold of the front door, Sasuke had rushed to his room, locking his door behind him. She hadn't seen him again that evening, not even when the time for dinner had come and passed.

Not that she was any better though. As dead tired as she was, she took it upon herself to collapse into bed as well. Still, she had attempted at least some communication and all she got out of it was the door to his bedroom slamming in her face. Had she any sort of energy left at that point in the day, she might have found it incredibly rude of him and done something about it.

Considering Uchiha Sasuke now though, certainly did remind her how much of a jerk he had been to her yesterday. During training, he would deliberately be unhelpful, act as though she didn't exist, and often made her look or feel like an idiot. She was beginning to think that it was impossible for him to care about anyone but himself, or to act like he cared _at all. _Every minute she spent with him in their new situation, was another minute put towards her new discovery that she was beginning to despise him. Her outlook on the entire job the Hokage had delegated to her was becoming more and more negative with every distasteful action of the Uchiha.

_I don't really want to be here…_She thought to herself, _especially not with an anti-social jerk living across the hall from me. Still, when life gives you lemons…_

Sighing once more, Sakura retreated to the gloomy confines of the guest room-rather, her room now. She walked over to the dresser and pulled out a pink t-shirt and baggy white cargo pants. Her usual outfit which was soaked in rain water, sweat, and mud, was tossed carelessly into the laundry basket in the bathroom down the hall. Gathering the rest of her toiletries, she stepped lightly down the hall towards the bathroom to take a shower. Shortly after, she was once again fully dressed in her bright clothing, staring at the mirror in her bedroom. It was slightly depressing how much she stood out from the dull background. Turning away from the sight, she wondered suddenly what to do next.

It was obvious she would have to cook a large breakfast in order to satisfy her hunger, but it was what she would do afterwards that had her bothered. Kakashi-sensei had told the team to take a few days off from training which, although not unusual, gave Sakura the funny feeling that it had something to do with her new assignment. She hadn't really thought as far as to what exactly she would be doing with Sasuke, let alone _how_ she would convince him to do something with her. He hadn't even emerged from his room yet as far as she knew, and who knew if he would come out to share a breakfast with her.

Now that she thought of it, she hadn't really seen Sasuke eating with anyone else before. Even during their early training days when they would be out in the forest and have mini-picnics, he would always find a secluded area to eat by himself. A sudden grumbling noise came from her stomach and she was snapped out of her deliberations.

_Right! Food first, and then I can worry about how to get this assignment kick-started, _she decided.

As she left her room, she noticed Sasuke's door was still as locked up tight as it had been all night. For a fraction of a second, she considered knocking to wake him but thought it might be best not to.

_He might actually be awake and just doesn't want to be bothered…_she reasoned.

Sighing again (it was becoming a habit in her sad environment), she went downstairs and entered the kitchen.

Although she had glanced at this room in passing during her brief tour of yesterday, upon further inspection she found the counter tops we completely empty. Not a single appliance, save for the oven itself, could be found. A slight hint of worry began to sprout, then grew enormously as she discovered every single one of the cupboards were barren. Turning to the fridge (her last resort), she sucked in a deep breath and crossed her fingers before opening it. Yet again, disappointment flooded over her as it too was devoid of any object whatsoever.

Empty. Completely empty.

And then, with another grumble from her stomach, Sakura almost cried out loud in complaint.

"There must be something…" she mumbled to herself as she double-checked the cupboards. "Nothing! Not even a plate…What kind of…How on earth…How does he-!"

Sakura halted her mini-rampage as she distinctly felt a gloomy presence enter the room.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke's stoic voice almost startled her. He was dressed in a dark blue turtleneck and baggy black pants. He had once again left his eyes un-obscured (most likely out of habit) and their misty depths were staring almost exactly at the spot where she stood. It was slightly unnerving. The scent of cherry blossoms that enveloped the entire room was stronger this morning than usual, and he could pinpoint the exact location of its source.

"I was hungry and wanted to cook some breakfast for us but-" She started.

"But what?" He interrupted rudely, hints of a smirk appearing on his flawless face.

"But you have no food in your kitchen!" She finished, clear disbelief in her voice.

"No shit." He commented ignorantly.

_Was he always like this?! _Sakura wondered exasperatedly to herself. She had known he'd always been reserved and rather cold, even in the days when she would call him Sasuke-kun and follow him around like a weakling. But times had changed and it turned out that no matter how far he'd try to push their entire team away from him, he would need her assistance now whether he liked it or not.

"Well, what are we going to eat?" She asked while trying to keep calm despite Sasuke's evident egotism.

"Don't know, don't really care." He replied, arrogance practically washing off him in waves.

"Alright, what do you eat normally then?" Sakura demanded, ignoring him this time. It was no sense getting angry, nor was it really her place to do so after her intrusions of yesterday. Besides, arguing wasn't why she was there.

"Let me put it to you this way, since you obviously don't understand. When I'm hungry, I go get food. When I'm not, I don't eat. And right now, I'm not hungry." He responded callously, before turning on his heel and retreating to his room once again. And once again, she could hear his bedroom door slam from upstairs.

Nearly following after him, bashing down the door, and strangling him for his blatant audacity, she again reminded herself to be the bigger person. It would, however, become bothersome if all he did for the entire time she was staying there was shut himself up in his room. She had to take charge if she expected her assignment to go anywhere.

_He's so damn rude and I'm here trying to save his butt! _Sakura thought to herself incredulously.

"Listen up!" She yelled up the stairs to him, "I know you're not used to me being here, or anyone staying for a while, but I'm going to go shopping so this house will have some decent food for once!"

With that she turned and left, grabbing a spring jacket on her way out.

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Sasuke listened to her shutting the front door and knew she had left.

_How irritating. _He mused. The younger, obsessed Sakura he once knew was no more. Instead, there was a headstrong and reckless older version that was no less annoying; which was part of the reason for why he treated her the way he did. For the most part, he believed as long as he kept treating her terribly she'd eventually give up and leave him alone for good. After yesterday's encounter with Tsunade, who had fed him a pack of lies that Sakura was just another tutor here to help him further develop chakra control (which he'd had no trouble perfecting on his own) and perhaps help him pick up a few more advanced skills in first-aid. But the Uchiha was far from being an idiot.

It was obvious, judging by the way the village had been regarding him lately, that somehow Sakura was there to change him. Whether she was supposed to try and convince him to stop being a ninja, or to try and get him to be more liked by everyone, neither were going to work.

She could go to hell for all he cared. He was only letting her stay here because it was the _Hokage's _orders.

_The whole thing is so damn intrusive…Send an aggravating team-mate to meddle in my life…Yeah, that'll help. _He thought sarcastically.

It definitely doesn't take an intelligent being to realize it's hard to change a person.

Especially when they don't want to be changed.

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After grabbing a very quick and light bite to eat at her favourite little café, Sakura proceeded to do some pretty heavy grocery shopping. As she walked through the streets of Konoha on her way back to the Uchiha's home with multiple shopping bags full of food weighing her down, she ran into Naruto.

"Hey Sakura-chaannnn!" He yelled from two feet away from her, making the others on the street look in their direction before continuing on with their business.

_I wonder when he'll finally drop that honorific…_She sighed inwardly at his tumultuousness, which he'd also never grown out of.

"Oh, hey Naruto." She responded. Their encounter wasn't exactly what she'd been hoping for just at that moment. She began to feel the weight of the groceries get the best of her and was pleased when Naruto subconsciously reached over to relieve her of a few.

"So how's the living block of ice doing? Any improvement?" Naruto asked as they continued walking. He'd learned about Sakura's latest assignment from Kakashi-sensei and had seen the way Sasuke had been treating her during their punishment.

Sakura couldn't suppress a laugh. Maybe running into Naruto wasn't the worst thing in the world. He did know how to cheer her up after all, whether he was trying to or not.

"Other than the fact that he's still being a big pigheaded, ignorant jerk, and I don't think I'll have any luck at all with this assignment-I think it's going rather swell." She giggled a little at her deliberate sarcasm.

"Eh! Is that teme really giving you such a hard time?" Naruto still hadn't grown out of his dislike for when Sasuke treated Sakura badly. His innate over protectiveness might've been seen as his one redeeming quality.

"Hard time doesn't even cut it. It feels like I'm living with the Grim Reaper himself." She muttered.

"Don't worry, I'll give him a piece of my mind!" Naruto declared as they arrived in front of Sasuke's house.

"That's really not necessary Naruto, but thanks for the offer." She smiled at him as they entered the house and brought the groceries to the empty kitchen.

Upon hearing quite a racket from downstairs, Sasuke left his room. He had heard two voices talking to each other and wanted to investigate. This was still, after all, _his _abode. The faint scent of packaged ramen noodles wafted up to him from the staircase.

"What the hell is that dobe here for?" he asked with hands stuffed in his pockets as he entered the kitchen. The thought of Naruto existing in his place of residence was definitely the last thing Sasuke ever thought might happen.

"He's helping me with the groceries." Sakura snapped at him before Naruto could start an argument.

"Hey Sakura-chan, where do you want these?" Naruto was holding various boxes and cans. Sakura quickly demonstrated to him where most of the items should go and in a matter of minutes everything had found its place.

"So um, I'm going now." Naruto said as Sakura finished putting away the plastic bags.

"Finally." Sasuke said at the same time as Sakura said "No!"

"What?" Sasuke asked and directed his gaze to where he knew by her faint pink aura Sakura was standing.

"Naruto should stay for breakfast." Sakura offered. It seemed like a good idea to have them all enjoy a meal together for once and let Sasuke experience what it was like to hang out properly. Besides, she wasn't exactly looking forward to spending her time there alone with Sasuke.

However, nothing ever goes as planned…

Before she knew it, Naruto was slowly approaching Sasuke with an awestruck expression on his face.

"Hey teme! You forgot your shades. Your eyes are kinda freakish in a cool way." He said excitedly.

Sakura groaned instantly, knowing he had just blown away any plans for any friendly meal they might have shared.

Instinctively, Sasuke clenched his eyes shut. He turned around and headed to the stairs. In his sudden anger, he lost focus and tripped over the first step. He felt Sakura come to his aid and try to help him stand but he hit her hands away.

"Don't touch me." He growled threateningly as he continued on; struggling very hard to pay attention to where he was going. He made his way up the stairs to his room, and again, slammed the door shut. (AN: That door is going to suffer so much abuse -_-") Once there, he resisted the urge to slam his fist into the wall. The term 'freak' had awakened something in him that he was trying hard to suppress. He didn't need to cause anymore damage to his surroundings or to others. What he hated more than Naruto's blatant disregard for manners, was the fact that he'd reacted in such an immature, weak, and pathetic way.

"Uchiha come back here! You have to eat!" He heard Sakura yell from the bottom of the staircase.

He didn't answer.

"Oops?" Naruto looked stunned at Sasuke's reaction. Sakura just glared at him.

"Let's eat. No point in letting this food go to waste..." Sakura said dully. Her first attempt at socializing with the cold-hearted Uchiha had been a complete disaster.

_Ugh, I should be getting paid for this job…_She groaned, as she began to prepare the meal.

A little while later, as they sat at the kitchen table eating their breakfast, Sakura came up with an idea that was almost perfect in helping her with her seemingly impossible assignment.

"Hey, Naruto?" She asked.

"What's up Sakura-chan?" he replied happily digging into his egg omlette.

"I think I've got a great idea for how I can get through to Sasuke!" she started, excitement growing in her voice. "And _you're_ going to help me." She smiled. She would need all the help she could get.

It was obvious she would have to be friendlier with the Uchiha if she was going to stay with him and ensure he was on the right track. She would have to convince him that she wasn't such a burden to be around if she was expected to get him to be more sociable. If she was going to convince everyone that he should keep his ninja title, she would definitely have to spend more time with him in order to change his frigid ways. She definitely wasn't going to give up.

Not yet anyways.

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**Author's Note: **Whew! That chapter was edited like crazy! I can't believe how awful the first version was; there were too many random emotions and reactions at first that weren't explained properly or fully or made the character far too OOC for the way they should be. Anyways! I really enjoy this chapter better than the original and I hope you did too! Click the review button and let me know :D Thanks for reading!

And special thanks to:

**Cster**

**Wisekraker**

**iPenguin**

**SugarBunnies16**

**ReadPass9**


	5. Chapter 4: Malevolence

**Chapter 4: Malevolence**

"It's perfect!" Sakura declared excitedly, abandoning her food.

"What is it?" Naruto asked through a mouthful of eggs.

"It's the best occasion to get Sasuke to liven up a little! And we'll enjoy it too! It'll be so much fun and-" Sakura babbled on as she got up from the kitchen table and headed towards the staircase.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto interrupted, ignoring the remnants of his food as well, "Just get to the point already! What are we going to do?"

Sakura paused in the doorway, half-turning towards Naruto to declare her plan.

"We'll take the living block of ice to the Cherry Blossom Festival!" She announced, before abruptly continuing on towards Sasuke's bedroom, eager to enlighten him as well. Halfway up the stairs, she could hear Naruto noisily push out his chair in a hurried attempt to follow after her.

"Uh! Sakura-chan!" He called up to her as she reached the landing in front of Sasuke's closed door.

Sakura's new plan wasn't at all what he had been expecting. What was worse, the excitement that gleamed in her eyes made it difficult for him to want to smother her hopes. She had been so deadpan since she first came to stay with the Uchiha that any inclination of the return of the once happy and smiling Sakura would, in turn, make him happy. Still, he knew he had to tell her that going _there_ of all places was the absolute worst idea she could possibly have ever had. The concept of what would happen if she informed Sasuke terrified him more than seeing the return of a dispirited Sakura.

"Hush, Naruto! I want it to be a surprise…" Sakura scolded him as he climbed the stairs.

"No wait! Sakura-chan I don't think-"Naruto started as he neared her.

He was cut off by her sudden knock on Sasuke's door.

Naruto turned a deathly pale color as he knew nothing he could say would sway the determined Sakura. His first instinct was to get the hell out of there, but there was no way he'd leave Sakura to suffer her doom alone.

"I said leave me alone if you didn't hear me the first time…"Came the antagonized voice of Sasuke from the other side of the door.

"Don't be stubborn! Just come here and open the door! I have something to tell you." Sakura replied as calmly as ever. Maybe she'd be able to make some progress with this impossible task…And maybe, just maybe, things would go back to normal before the month was up.

"No, piss off." He replied, his voice hinting at a growing anger. It was bad enough they were still occupying any sort of space in his home, but to demand that he needed to associate with them was pushing it.

"Alright, if you're going to act that way then so be it. But you already know that if you don't open the door I'm perfectly capable of coming in anyways…So it's your choice; we can do this the polite way, or my way." Sakura replied sternly. Her patience was running thin already.

There was a sudden shuffling from the other side of the door before, moments later, it clicked open.

"You think that scares me?" Sasuke growled.

"It worked didn't it?" Sakura asked, smirking slightly at the Uchiha who was now wearing his sunglasses.

He stood stiffly in the doorway to his dark bedroom, almost blending in, his jaw set.

"Well? What the hell do you want?" He asked in a deadly tone.

"We're going on an excursion together." Sakura answered sweetly, knowing it would probably take him off guard.

"There's no way in hell I'd go anywhere with you." He stated, matter-of-factly.

"Not just us two, genius. Naruto's coming too." She replied back.

"Whatever. Like that would change the fact that I'm not going to go anywhere." He said sarcastically as he went to close the door, but she held it back.

"Would you just be co-operative? You don't even know what I have in mind!" She knew she sounded almost pleading, but she didn't care. Somehow she'd have to convince him to come along.

"Sakura-chan, if he doesn't want to go anywhere than let's just leave him alone. We could always just go ourselves." Naruto spoke up, his voice shaky.

"No, Naruto, you know why I want all three of us to go together! I thought you thought it was a good idea?" Sakura turned slightly towards Naruto who stood beside her. It worried her that he was protesting so much and looking fairly apprehensive.

"No, hold on…Where does she want to take us that you don't want me to know about, dobe?" Sasuke questioned as he let go of the door, letting Sakura back off. There was something more to this that piqued his interest. Uzumaki's aura was wavering with tension and anxiety.

"Oh, uh…Nowhere…It's nothing actually." Naruto began stuttering, "Sa-Sakura-chan, let's just go!" He desperately tried to pull at her arm but she stepped just out of his reach.

"I was thinking we should go to the Cherry Blossom Festival." Sakura notified Sasuke before Naruto could delay her any longer.

Naruto groaned inwardly, bracing himself, as he caught the sudden look on Sasuke's face.

"Um, w-what's wrong?" Sakura blurted out, confused by the mixed look of anger, disgust, and sadness that had instantly washed over the cold and calm face of Sasuke in less than half a second.

"Do you think that's funny?" He hissed at her, menacingly. "What kind of sick joke are you trying to play here, Haruno?" He took a threatening step towards her, looking livid.

She tried to say something or make some sort of movement but she was frozen to the spot. He was emanating an obvious hatred, and she suddenly wished she could take a step back-or run as far away from him as she could possibly get. She could tell he was suppressing the urge to lash out by the way his hands shook slightly.

As stunned by his violent reaction as she was, she barely noticed as he cursed them while storming off, grabbing his jacket and slamming the front door behind him. If she wasn't still rooted to the spot by the full ferocity of his hatred, she might have tried to chase after him, but the animosity that had radiated from him still blazed around her.

_What on earth was that about?_ _How did that all just blow up in my face again? _She questioned silently.

Naruto was the first to recover.

"Sakura-chan? Are you okay?" He whispered. Never before had they seen Sasuke in such a state; it was unnerving to say the least.

As Sakura began to regain her bearings, she rounded on Naruto.

"What the hell just happened?" She asked. "What was with that reaction? Why'd he storm off?" She drilled him, looking almost ready to cry with the evident frustration surging through her.

"I tried to tell you!" Naruto said defensively.

"Tell me what, Naruto?" She demanded.

"He was on the way to the Cherry Blossom Festival when the accident happened…It's probably one of the worst places in the world for him…" Naruto began, his eyes averted to the floor, "I'm sorry; I really did try to tell you." His blue eyes displayed his sincere apology before he turned to head back down the stairs. As he reached the front door, he called back up to her.

"I think it's better if I just leave you alone for a while."

She heard the door close behind him.

_Oh God, what have I done? How could I have been so oblivious? _She began guilt-tripping herself.

Trembling somewhat, she turned and entered her bedroom, closing the door gently behind her. She headed to the balcony and looked out to the morning sky. It had become overcast and threatened rain. The comforting of the grey did little to appease her soul.

Images of the angered and fleeing Sasuke continued to flood her mind.

_Why didn't I just listen to Naruto? _

She shook her head, her eyes closed, as she tried to fight back tears that continuously threatened to fall.

_My first attempt at starting my wretched assignment went horribly wrong…How am I supposed to pull this off? Maybe I should just quit..._

Doubt began to get the best of her as she retreated to her room to change out of her bright clothing that seemed so out of place considering the recent events. Soon, her pink and white garbs were exchanged for a tight fitting black tank and baggy black cargos. She pulled her short hair back into a ponytail, and gently rubbed her neck, trying to relieve some of her stress.

Her jade eyes had lost their shine, as thoughts of what might happen if she failed her mission drifted endlessly through her troubled mind.

_Why do I care so damn much if I can't help him? Why does it matter that he's so damn cold? What's it to me if he loses his title? _

She sat on a patio chair as she returned to the balcony. As the rain began to fall, she appreciated its cool drops on her skin. Rain was a wonderful gift with the ability to wash away all of the world's worries and pains; even if it was only momentarily. To her, it was soothing and cleansing. She sighed inwardly. She knew the answer to all the questions plaguing her mind.

_I feel sorry for him…It's horrible but it's true. I can't ever let him know I feel that way though; he resents anyone who pities him, and I don't need him hating me more than he does now…_

It was almost eight years ago that she had first caught sight of Uchiha Sasuke. She remembers the sadness that had filled her knowing that he was so different from everyone else and would never grow up and experience the same things everyone else could. She had been so young and naïve then, but ever since that day she had felt a great desire to help him.

_This opportunity has to be more than coincidence, but it feels like such a burden. I shouldn't take this so lightly…And I can't just quit…In a sick and twisted way, although he hates me and I'm starting to feel the same way about him, he still needs me in more ways than he can possibly imagine…_

Fresh drops of rain mixed with her salty tears as they slid down her pale face.

_How am I going to do this? _She questioned, despair beginning to get the best of her, _I have to fix the mess I've made…But then what? How many other ideas will I have that'll have the opposite effect than what I'm aiming for? _

Sakura decided it was best not to think about that just now. She knew what she had to do for the moment. She re-entered the house, grabbed a light sweater, and headed to the front door. Opening it, she paused briefly before stepping out.

Looking through the rain, she knew the work ahead of her was just going to get harder. She was going to find the cold-hearted bastard and apologize to him. Even someone like Uchiha Sasuke didn't deserve the open wounds she had created for him. Sakura's stubborn determination encouraged her to head out and locate him. Even if every bone in her body didn't want to fraternize with Sasuke anymore than he wanted to be associated with her, she knew she had to take responsibility. And although every inch of her soul craved to return home and be rid of the entire predicament, she knew that it was simply not an option.

She would have to confront Sasuke. She would have to try and amend her actions…And she would have to face the consequences.

It was inevitable…

Pulling on the sweater, zipping it up, and tugging the hood over her head, Sakura left the vacant house behind her. As she stumbled through the rain, her clothes stuck to her body and the tufts of hair that had escaped the safety of the hood were plastered to her face.

For what was beginning to feel like hours, she searched. She knew he couldn't have gone far in the few minutes since his departure, and by process of elimination, the only logical place left to check was the forest behind the Uchiha division of Konoha. Turning in that direction, she began to run agilely towards the looming trees ahead.

As she entered the forest, the tall trees provided some shelter from the rain. She slowed her pace as she realized she was attaining small cuts and scratches from the low hanging branches in her dishevelled state. Soon, however, she came to a clearing that had one of the largest trees of Konoha standing proudly and majestically in the center. There, under the shelter of it's leaves, sat the Uchiha.

A small smile graced her lips. She had finally found him. Hurrying forward she knew, there was no turning back now.

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Uchiha Sasuke sat in the only place in Konoha where he could find sanctuary from the world. He had often visited this place, instinctively knowing how far it was from his home.

_Damn this rain…_He thought, silently cursing the way it had allowed him to trip and stumble many times on his journey here. Its dampening effects on his senses continuously made him feel weak, pathetic, and vulnerable. He was, however, gaining in skill to use the sounds of the rain hitting off objects to his advantage.

_And damn that girl..._He continued to brood on recent events and was beginning to hope she would just leave on her own volition_. _For all he cared, he never wanted to be near her ever again. _She can take her annoying uselessness elsewhere…_

_The Cherry Blossom Festival…_

It wasn't as though he could ever forget the events that had changed his life, but remembering how much he had tried to persuade his parents to take him there had cut open the sutures that had once held together the wounds in his heart created from his deep guilt.

_Maybe it has nothing to do with the impudent Haruno girl at all…_

Sitting under the protection of the leaves in the spring shower, a few stray drops fell on his face.

_I should have died with them…_

It was cruel fate that had ensured he would be the only survivor. It was complete and utter torment that he was forced to exist without a family, and without the precious eyesight which not only made the Uchiha name, but was crucial to his survival as a ninja.

_The reason for why I'm still alive…The reason for why I have to suffer…It has to be some sort of payment. And if that's the case…If that's why my life must be plagued with desolation…Then I will keep living. And if the girl is just another spear in my side then I'll put up with it; if only to repay my dues. _

It was then, that he felt it. It was faint, but he could sense her pink aura just as the soft smell of cherry blossoms reached him through the dampness surrounding them. How he loathed every bit of her existence…

_Of course she'd invade here as well; why wouldn't she? _He thought sarcastically, _Apparently intruding on my home just isn't good enough. _

She was standing beside him now. He concentrated on keeping his face directed straight ahead of him, ignoring her.

And yet, through his hatred of the girl next to him, he could not ignore the vague smell of salt mixed with the scent of rain.

"I-I'm so sorry…" She whispered, as she sat down next to him.

He continued to ignore her, refusing to let her know he was aware of her presence. He had heard those words far too many times before, and he knew they meant nothing.

"Damn it Sasuke! Say something!" She nearly yelled.

_She used my first name? Since when did that change…_

"I didn't know…I swear, if I did I never would have even thought to-" Sakura continued, beginning to ramble on in her distraught state.

"Just leave." He finally said. _Just get the hell away from me…_ He thought inwardly.

"No! For once in your life understand that I'm not going to go away just because you act rude and callous towards me! We're not twelve anymore Sasuke!" She started to shake with frustration.

"What difference does it make." He turned to her direction. His sunglasses lay askew in the grass beside him, and his stunningly beautiful eyes made her heart skip a beat.

They were grey…_Her_ comforting grey…

"Because, I want to help you." She said whispered quietly.

_This is stupid…Why am I crying? _She berated herself.

"I don't want your help. I'm fine on my own." He stated apathetically.

Then there was silence between the two of them as only the sounds of the pouring rain could be heard.

_I hate you. _She thought to herself, casting him a glare through her tears.

"Neither of us _want _to do any of this, but I'm definitely not going anywhere. Why can't you just swallow your pride and open up just this once!" She asked. The mix of disdain, desperation, and determination was more than anyone should have been able to handle.

"Stop being so damn persistent." He breathed.

The silence came again and it was enough to make her go mad.

It was as if they were frozen in time with him looking in her direction with his misty grey eyes and her sitting there, waiting for him to say something.

Finally he looked away and stood up, moving out of the shelter of the tree and into the rain. If Sakura didn't hate his guts she would have noticed how handsome he was, with his normally spiky hair flattened by the rain.

"Let's go." Was all he said and he turned to the direction of the trees.

_Alright, so it's not an 'I accept your apology' but it's still something…_Sakura thought, half an inch of hope helping her to bite back her tears.

Without another glance back, Sakura stood and followed after the Uchiha. They walked in silence most of the way, but when Sasuke nearly tripped over a protruding root, Sakura took his arm and helped him regain his balance. To her surprise, he didn't pull away from her or push her hands away. They just kept walking.

_So much for not needing my help, _she thought, pleased with the development.

They entered the Uchiha home not too long afterward, both soaking wet. She climbed up the stairs after him and they entered their respective rooms, closing and locking their doors behind them.

She fumbled for a towel to dry her hair before carelessly throwing on some warm pyjamas. She stretched out on her bed for a moment's rest after all the emotional exhaustion of the day.

In the room across the hall, Sasuke sat on his own bed, holding the same picture frame Sakura had discovered the other day. He knew exactly what the picture showed and he hoped he would never forget. And while his situation wasn't improving in the least, he knew he would have a harder time trying to get rid of this new tutor than any of the others before her. He recalled her steadfast decision to stay and could almost give her credit for her persistent determination, although it hardly compensated for her annoying ways.

A few hours later, once he had the chance to shower and change into some dry clothing, there came a knock on his bedroom door.

_Tch, already back at it, is she? _He wondered irritably, while walking over to open the door.

"What?" he asked.

"Dinner's ready." She answered.

"I'm not hungry." He said bluntly before starting to close the door on her again.

"How could you not be? You haven't eaten all day!" She asked incredulously, holding the door firmly open.

"Fine. Whatever." He said and he stepped out of his room, heading downstairs.

_Wow, that was easy…_Sakura thought, astounded that the Uchiha hadn't argued more.

They both entered the kitchen and Sasuke was overcome with the delicious scent of home cooked spaghetti. The smell of the tomato sauce alone had his mouth watering, though he would never admit it. He headed over to the table and picked up his plate while Sakura sat down at the other end of the table. He reached around and found a fork and turned to leave.

"Where are you going?" Sakura questioned, once she realized he had no intention of sharing the meal with her.

"To eat." He replied before climbing up the stairs and entering his room.

Sakura sat staring at her food and took a deep, calming breath.

_I knew it was too good to be true. There was no way he'd ever sit and eat in the company of other human beings…The idea itself is just preposterous! _

But at least she had managed to get him to eat. And more importantly, she had fixed her mistake.

As she dug into her plate of pasta, she made a vow to never mention anything about the tragic incident around him again. Although, she had to admit that he was doing pretty well for a guy who hardly ever spoke to anyone. She could give him credit for that much, though it hardly compensated for his cold-hearted ways. She sighed to herself.

_This is definitely going to be the longest month of my life._

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**Author's Note: **So this chapter was a compilation of two from the original version. I cut out the random bits and discovered they weren't very long at all. I do think this has more substance to it, or rather, more relevant substance; so I'm quite pleased with the end result. Thanks so much for reading! Please review and let me know what you think about this new take :D! Special thanks to **silverstorm16 **for your kind words and amazing inspiration! I really appreciate it! :D


	6. Chapter 5: Destitution

**Chapter 5: Destitution**

Condemned for eternity to see nothing but shades of black, Uchiha Sasuke will never again experience the sights of the world around him. Never again will colors appear to him as vividly as they once had. All that remains is a suffocating eternal darkness.

The morbid life he leads is nothing but an emotionless, cold, and empty void.

There are those rare moments during the first few minutes of waking when, forgetting his abnormality, he believes he might once again see the light. But this fantasy is always swept away by crushing pain as reality strikes, full force. He then goes about his day in the abysmal darkness that has consumed his soul.

With his amplified senses, he could hear the drop of a pin in the most busy and crowded street downtown. He could feel all the jagged edges and scratches on a shiruken. He could pick out the scent of the smallest flower in a training field through all the sweat and blood. As he ate, every ingredient down to the very last spice could be distinguished amongst the medley of flavours.

While remarkable, it became a curse. To always pay attention to all the detail and all the small things can ruin any experience. What he wouldn't give to be normal if only to allow himself the greed of letting minute technicalities go unnoticed…

And yet, to continue to grow in strength would be to keep his lack of eyesight. Doing so taught him to depend solely on himself and to never require support of any kind.

He would endure his damnable existence alone.

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He stood at the edge of the untamed backyard of his home as the rain soaked him to the bone. Shiruken poised at the ready, holding the blades delicately between each finger, he unleashes them. Their deadly barrage ransacked the targets that were clumsily constructed at the opposing end of the yard.

Conscious of the faint smell of cherry blossoms and pink aura emanating from the guest bedroom balcony, he dashes towards the splintering targets to retrieve his weapons. He could hear her breathing through the downpour and knew she was watching him.

He yanked the worn shiruken out of their imaginary victim before preparing, once again, for another assault.

_Amazing…_Sakura looked on in wonder just as she always did when Sasuke was training. As the Uchiha continued to strike each target with deadly precision, she couldn't help but feel as though she needed years more of practice before even beginning to attain his level.

_I still can't get over how he never misses a single one! He's so passionate about this…It'll be such a waste when-no, __**if**__ his title is revoked; and I won't let that happen…_Sakura contemplated the Uchiha's fate as she held up her umbrella to shield herself from the rain.

As she continued to follow his every move, Sasuke remained fully aware of her location in the back of his mind.

Finished with the shiruken, he pulled out his generous array of kunai instead, and armed himself with a few before once again advancing on the targets. With incredible speed, he pulled back the deadly weapons, spun them wildly, and thrust them forward just as Sakura sneezed…

For the first time, the kunai missed their mark. As Sakura looked up again, her eyes widened in shock as she observed the bare targets.

_First time for everything, I guess…_She reasoned.

"Damn…" Sasuke muttered under his breath.

_Stupid girl…_He thought to himself, before pausing as he realized he was blaming her. He knew it was his own fault for missing the targets, but his continual loss of focus at any sudden shift from the girl behind him was beginning to anger him. _She's never bugged me like this before…_And just as with everything else about her, he despised this new effect too.

Sakura jumped down from the balcony to the wet earth below as she made her way over to him.

He stood before the targets, catching his breath.

"You okay?" She questioned.

He said nothing.

"Uchiha?" She asked again, demanding a response.

"Get inside." He replied, monotone as always.

"I'll leave when you do." She defied him and couldn't help but smile. She knew he was fine by the way his attitude hadn't changed at all.

There was a brief pause before he turned towards her.

"Do what you want."

"Oh don't worry, I definitely will." She said before stepping away as he reached down into the unkempt grass to search for his dangerous tools.

It was taking him a moment longer than usual to find the objects as the sounds of the rain reflecting off of them was muffled by the grass.

Without warning, he sliced his palm open on one of the blades.

"Tch." He muttered in annoyance.

Sakura halted her retreat and turned to look back at him. Seeing crimson drip from Sasuke's hand through his meagre attempts to quell the blood flow, she rushed to his side.

"What did you do?" She asked, incredulous.

"None of your damn business." He snapped at her before jumping to the balcony clumsily to dash through her room to his own.

Still outside, Sakura located and cleaned the blood-soaked kunai. She pocketed them as she jumped to the balcony in pursuit of the heartless fool. A small trail of blood had dripped onto the carpet and a bloody handprint stained her door. She hadn't realized how deep the gash must have been.

With her medic-nin attitude beginning to kick in, she rushed to his bedroom door, worried.

Forgetting common courtesy, she neglected to knock before opening the door, marring her own hand with the scarlet substance that covered the handle. She was immediately confronted with the sight of a shirtless Sasuke bandaging his wounds. His bloody shirt lay in a ball on the floor and it was obvious he had been trying to stem the flow of blood with it.

Sasuke turned his attention to the door.

"Oh, uh, sorry, I just thought you could have used some help…" She mumbled as she looked away.

"I told you never to come in here again. Now get out." He spoke, menacingly.

She flinched involuntarily and stumbled back as he stood in one fluid motion to slam the door on her, again.

Anger replacing the worry, she stormed off to the bathroom to wash the blood off her hands.

_Stupid jerk! Ugh, how I'd love to wring his neck! _She cursed him mentally for being so insensitive twenty-four seven.

Almost an hour later, donning clean clothes, Sakura headed to the kitchen for lunch.

As she opened the fridge, she let out a small, frustrated, cry. She couldn't get it out of her head how unnecessarily stressful her stay in the Uchiha household was constantly becoming.

_I really don't feel like making anything…_She complained inwardly, _And even if I did, it's not like __**he'd **__eat any of it anyways…_

She left the kitchen, deciding she would go out to eat and ignoring any concept that it might've been rude of her to leave without letting him know.

_I shouldn't have to cater to him…_She reassured herself as she grabbed her jacket and umbrella and once again, headed out into the dreary noonday weather.

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The training schedule for Team Seven had been cleared for the rest of the month. Kakashi had been adamant that no questions were to be asked. Naruto hadn't complained at all, but his other two team mates weren't as fond of the decision as he had been. Sakura's only excuse to escape her task for a few hours had been stripped from her, while training had been Sasuke's one and only pleasure in life.

It was for this reason that he had reverted to his own personal training regime this morning.

As he sat in his room, he wrapped a cloth bandage around the wound in his palm over and over, ripping off the access end with his teeth. Spots of crimson stained the white cloth where pressure was applied.

Throughout the years, physical pain had become easier to handle as nothing ever compared with the emotional torment he would suffer his entire life. He had never winced, nor screamed from pain. He would never show anyone that it hurt.

_How stupid of her to think I'd need her help…_He remarked silently, as he gritted his teeth and took a shower to wash away the sweat, blood, and the dirt.

He never noticed the blood that kept seeping through the material, washing the crimson liquid down the drain. He never noticed the front door opening and closing…

He never heard her leave.

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A young kunoichi entered her favourite little café not too far from the place she had just escaped.

"What would you like, miss?" The server asked as she stood in front of their delicious display of baked goods.

"I'll take a strawberry muffin and a coffee please." She replied sweetly.

"Certainly. Anything else?" He asked as he found the items and placed them on the counter.

"No, that will be-Actually, could I also get a bottle of tomato juice and a blueberry muffin?" Sakura added when the image of a certain jerk came into her mind. She blushed slightly as the image was from their most recent encounter when he'd been half-naked. Quickly pushing the thought from her mind she re-directed her attention to the server who had just finished ringing up her items. After she paid, she found her favourite seat next to the window and watched her beautiful grey skies as she enjoyed the scrumptious muffin.

She lingered for as long as possible before deciding it was about time to head back. As she held the items she'd purchased for Sasuke in one hand, and her umbrella in the other, she headed back towards the house.

With her head obviously in the clouds, it was no surprise she didn't pick up on the fact that someone was following her.

About a block away from the house, Sakura paused as the hair stood on the back of her neck. She had heard a distinct splash from a footstep behind her although she had believed she was alone.

"Wha-" She couldn't even let a single word escape before she felt powerful arms grabbing her from behind and covering her mouth to stop her from screaming.

What she had been holding crashed to the ground as she tried to reach for her weapons. A sudden dread filled her veins as she realized she'd left her tool belt back in her temporary room. Struggling to glance at her attacker, she caught their reflection in a puddle. She instantly recognized the familiar design of the ANBU mask.

A split-second later, she found herself bound and gagged. Her confused and befuddled mind wouldn't allow for any concentration to perform any jutsus.

_What on earth-? What are they-? Why am I-? _A million questions flooded her mind, _But I've never-! I didn't-!_

She began to struggle harder, desperately trying to make sense of the situation. She felt as though her chakra was being suppressed, and the next thing she knew was darkness.

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Sasuke emerged from his room hours later and headed for the kitchen. Once downstairs, he felt around for any pink aura that may be near. To his surprise, he felt nothing.

_She must be in her room. _He reasoned, pleased that he wouldn't be interrupted in his quest for food.

As he began to climb the stairs again, yogurt and spoon in hand, he wondered if he should check on the Haruno girl.

_Just to make sure she isn't doing something she shouldn't be…_He decided.

Once he reached the landing, he turned to the door to her room and was again, taken by surprise that it stood open. He knocked lightly then entered where there was no response. Although the annoying smell of cherry blossoms was stronger here than in other parts of the house, there was no aura or sound of breathing. The room was currently unoccupied.

He raised an eyebrow out of habit as his curiosity got the best of him.

_Where'd that ridiculous girl run off to this time? _He knew she would usually let him know if she was leaving but wondered if he just hadn't heard her. _Good riddance…_He smirked to himself.

He stepped onto the balcony to breathe in the fresh, damp, air. He listened intently and picked out the soft sounds of the wind gently brushing through the leaves of the forest. Crickets noisily sang from somewhere beneath him and a dull hush seemed to blanket any other sounds of human civilization.

_Must be later than I thought…_The night air always relaxed him the most. Turning, he headed back to the living room and turned on the television.

"_Welcome back to Konoha News at eleven…" _A newscaster reported.

_Eleven? Isn't that a bit late for a reckless girl to be out? _He contemplated as he turned off the TV.

He sat for a moment, debating with himself.

_All my troubles would disappear if that annoyance never showed up again…But at the same time, we're on the same team and I'll undoubtedly be held accountable if something happened to her while she was staying with me…_He mentally cursed Tsunade for having set up the entire ordeal. _No one said I'd have to babysit…_

Grudgingly, he threw on his jacket and started his search for the last person he would ever go out of his way to track down.

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Sakura opened her eyes and lifted her head up groggily. There was a horrible stinging pain on the side of her head where she assumed she had been knocked out. At first, while her vision swam before her, she couldn't remember anything.

When her eyes had adjusted, she found she was sitting on a metal chair that was bolted to the floor. Metal chains bound her arms and legs to its frame, as she identified the source of the dim lighting. A single bulb hung feet above her, glowing a soft yellow. From what she could tell, the room was taller than it was wide, and she was positioned dead centre. Realizing the gag in her mouth was merely cloth; she spat it out and tried pulling her arms free, but to no avail. The chains had been reinforced with a supremely powerful jutsu that sent electric shocks through her being anytime she tried to yank free. There was a cell door ahead of her with a small, square, and barred window near the top, and a slot to pass food to the occupant of the room.

She was a prisoner.

In a sudden clarity, she recalled what had transpired since she had left the café.

The ANBU had taken her captive.

_The ANBU…I don't understand…Why did they come after me? If they had orders to hunt me, I shouldn't still be alive; I would be ashes by now… _She struggled to think through the haze of pain.

As she heard approaching footsteps, she hurriedly feigned unconsciousness. Moments later, two ANBU unlocked the cell door and walked in.

"Why wasn't this one slain?" One tall ANBU wearing a wolf mask asked.

"Orders. This one's being saved for questioning. Her information is deemed invaluable." The other answered.

"Hm…Too bad the Hokage is away for the week. We'll have to keep her here until she returns."

"Her gag has been removed." The second ANBU noticed.

"Then she's woken up." The first acknowledged.

"We've got a deceitful little liar on our hands." The wolf-masked ANBU walked forward and slapped Sakura across the face.

Sakura winced from the added pain now spreading across her cheek. She could taste blood in her mouth from the force of the impact and glared up at him.

"Oh, hey now, our nasty little traitor doesn't like a rude awakening." He sneered.

"What do you want with me?" Sakura croaked out; her voice hoarse from disuse.

The ANBU laughed bitterly.

"Don't act coy with us. You know, we've been looking for you for a long time, wench. We ANBU are not the kind of people you want to mess with..." The other ANBU stepped closer to the first to add emphasis to his threat.

"But I don't-" Sakura started, but the ANBU had shoved the cloth forcefully back into her mouth to prevent her from saying anything more.

"Let's go before I'm forced to do something I know I'm going to regret." The wolf-masked ANBU told the other.

"Just remember the Hokage wants this one alive…For now." The other answered; leaving one last threat to hang in the air as they left the room and bolted the door shut.

There was no escape from the ANBU.

Sakura spat out the cloth one final time before allowing her tears to spill over. She was certain that whatever the reason, if she was on the ANBU list, she was going to die.

As she questioned the Hokage's motives, and the reason for why she was now considered a traitor, the ANBU turned off the light to her cell.

Leaving her in a complete and eternal darkness.

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**Author's Note: **This chapter has definitely all the same elements as the original; it's just been as polished as I could make it. I find this is one of my least favourite chapters of the story because it begins the ANBU misadventure which doesn't really make sense until the next couple of chapters which I'm contemplating on condensing again into the next one I'll post…This was about 7 pages, so shorter than the last but I feel it ends decently and I didn't want to drag it on just yet. So keep reading and reviewing! It's thanks to all your support that I feel excited to write the next bit for you :D

**Thanks to my reviewers: **

**Gaara's Crimson Tears**

**SugarBunnies16**

**Silver_Eyes_Wolf**

**Cster**


	7. Chapter 6: Love The Way You Lie

**Chapter 6: Love The Way You Lie**

Nothing but the sounds of the wind could be heard as Uchiha Sasuke wandered the empty streets of Konoha well past midnight, wondering why he was even concerning himself with the whereabouts of his irritating team mate. His attitude was reflected in the way he refused to use much effort in his search; constantly reminding himself that he could care-less if that intruding woman never showed up again.

Still, there was something inherently wrong with the way she hadn't notified him that she was leaving the house. Some part of him secretly hoped she had simply decided to quit her assignment in a moment of frustration-after all; it wasn't as though he had bothered to check and see whether her belongings remained in his guest room. Another part of him reasoned that, someone as annoying as her would have been pretty vocal about her departure if that were the case.

It never occurred to the lonely Uchiha that Haruno Sakura could have been visiting a friend, or her family, after having dealt with his less-than-friendly behaviour. The thought never even crossed his mind as he had never understood the need for companionship and caring in moments of stress, frustration, and desperation.

Sasuke had never found a need to consider his own actions and behaviour towards others, and therefore, never had to consider the consequences of those actions; not even when his family and team mates had suffered them.

He never cared. He was fine with the way he was. His demeanour allowed for an invisible barrier to be placed between him and those who attempted to get close to him. If any were allowed to break through, they would be allowed the opportunity to leave him. To be left again would perhaps destroy any semblance of sanity the Uchiha had left, though he would never dare admit such a weakness. All would remain bearable; as long as he remained cold and distant to every individual he interacted with.

He paused a moment.

_What the hell am I doing? _

He considered his actions carefully. Was he actually spending his time searching for a woman he had come to despise over the last couple of days? If he had just ignored his gut instincts that something was wrong, he could have ignored the fact that the Haruno girl was missing just long enough that she would no longer be ordered to stay at his abode by the fifth.

_And if she never turns up again? Then what? _Sasuke chided himself, acknowledging inwardly that some guilt may begin to seep through his usually stoic conscience.

Finally regaining the resolve to continue meandering through Konoha aimlessly in an attempt to discover where Sakura may have gone off to, Sasuke turned down a street he vaguely identified as one he rarely travelled. It was a street that contained many bakeries, cafes, and sweet shops which during the day, usually exuded an aura of excitement and was crowded with villagers.

So naturally, Uchiha Sasuke had generally avoided the road altogether.

Tonight however, the street remained one of the only parts of the area surrounding the Uchiha district that Sasuke had not yet searched.

Almost immediately, he sensed the familiar presence of fellow villagers at the far end of the street. The unusual sounds of the gathering surprised the Uchiha almost as much as it unnerved him that so many would be conferring this late in the night.

As he neared the cluster of people, he identified many of their auras. An aura nearest him belonged to his Team leader, Hatake Kakashi, and Sasuke was further intrigued by the presence of several of the jounin team leaders. Another aura not far off blazing fiercely, nearly overpowering the others, and belonging to Uzumaki Naruto, surprised the Uchiha even further. Other chuunin Sasuke had briefly come into contact with were also a part of the group, such as Nara Shikamaru, Inuzuka Kiba, Rock Lee, Hyuga Hinata, and Yamanaka Ino.

Merely feet from the gathering, Sasuke could distinguish much of what they were discussing.

"Are you sure she's not answering her cellphone?" Kakashi questioned the group.

"Many of us have tried contacting her several times. Naruto even went to visit Uchiha Sasuke's to see if she was there, but no one was home." Ino reported, her voice edged with worry.

"And we're still not sure whether the villager who reported seeing Sakura taken by the ANBU is in his right mind?" Kakashi pressed.

"I can't see any reason why he'd fabricate such a story and immediately notify you." Yuhi Kurenai offered.

"And the Hokage is away for the next couple of weeks?" He continued.

"Naruto and I visited her office as soon as you informed us all of this incident." Kiba reported, "No one seems to have any idea as to why the order for Sakura's arrest has been placed. A message has been rushed to the Hokage who should be returning within the next two hours."

"Alright. So we know she was detained in the early hours of the afternoon. Assuming the worst, she's been held captive for approximately ten hours. I don't imagine the ANBU are going to be patient nor lenient with her. The sooner we locate her, the better. I've placed a special request with the village elders to try and get to the root of this mishap, though so far, they haven't budged a bit on their belief that there is no possible way the ANBU could have hunted down an innocent kunoichi. I will be the first to meet with the Hokage upon her return. I need each team to divide and continue our search. If anyone finds any..." Kakashi seemed to struggle for a moment, "Remains...Notify me at once."

Naruto's aura flared even brighter at that moment.

"One final thing, if any of you locate Uchiha Sasuke, bring him to me. I will be waiting at the front gates."

"There's no need, Kakashi, he's right there." Guy seemed to have noticed Sasuke's approach.

"Teme!" Naruto shouted, before rushing up and grabbing a hold of the scruff of Sasuke'shirt, "Where the hell have you been!"

Kakashi's aura approached and Sasuke envisioned him laying a hand on Naruto's shoulder to help him calm himself. Naruto backed off.

"Well?" Kakashi furthered Naruto's questioning.

"I've been looking," was all Sasuke bothered to explain.

"I imagine you heard our discussion?" Kakashi asked for confirmation.

Sasuke merely nodded.

"Then you will accompany Naruto and Kiba in the search of the area surrounding the Hokage's office. As they are under the direct command of the Hokage herself, I imagine the ANBU headquarters will be in its direct proximity. The ANBU, if discovered, are not to be engaged."

"And how do we know they haven't already dispatched her? Are they not meant to destroy their targets?" Sasuke questioned, not the least concerned of how crude the question may have seemed.

"Y-you bastard!" Naruto yelled, again being held back by Kakashi.

"We don't know." Kakashi replied, ignoring the worried and appalled mutterings of the chuunin around him. "We have been searching all night for any signs of her. The most we discovered was an umbrella, and some food we guessed she purchased on this street. We narrowed down the location of the cafe and questioned the staff and customers who confirmed she'd eaten there earlier. That's all we know for certain. Naruto can answer any other questions you may have. We have to get moving." Kakashi seemed to have made a motion with his hand, signalling the group to disperse and begin the pressing mission.

Kiba walked over to where Naruto and Sasuke remained.

"We can fill you in on the way to the office." He said, before jumping up to the nearest rooftop.

"Don't slow us down." Naruto chided, clearly aggravated by Sasuke's stoic expression.

Sasuke let the comment slide as he jumped towards the same rooftop upon which Kiba's aura still lingered with greater speed and skill than Naruto could have believed possible.

Naruto followed the Uchiha closely as the three leapt from roof to roof. His frustration grew each moment as Kiba filled in the minor details and the Uchiha's expression remained passive-not a line of worry etched on his face.

"Aren't you even a little bothered by all of this? She's your team mate!" Naruto yelled as they approached the area around the Hokage's office.

"Shh Naruto!" Kiba hissed, "We're close."

"Of course not." Sasuke answered quite matter-of-factly as the three ninja paused on the next rooftop.

Naruto turned towards the Uchiha, a look of disgust creeping upon his features.

"You don't care at all?" The blonde questioned, distaste evident in his voice.

"Not in the least." Sasuke replied, again with as much ease as one would discuss the way the sky is blue, and the grass is green. He would never care about the wellbeing of another. Never.

Naruto shook with fury. His hands clenched and unclenched as though he was waging an inner debate as to whether he should punch the teme in the face. Tears of anger began to quell up as he contemplated the situation at hand. His team mate was missing, facing incredibly grave danger. But she was not simply a team mate to Naruto. Sakura had been his closest friend since his days at the ninja academy, and he had even grown to consider her as someone precious to him. She was always warm, helpful, and compassionate. Even in her frustration and her moments when her temper got the better of her, Naruto never questioned his feelings for her. And now, their mutual team mate was acting as though their years of training and time spent with one another meant absolutely nothing. Sakura was seemingly disposable to the Uchiha.

In a split second decision, Naruto threw a punch at Sasuke, who side-stepped the careless attack with ease. Naruto's emotions emanated from him in waves, making it easy to predict his every move.

Sasuke instantly retaliated, grabbing hold of the front of Naruto's orange jacket, lifting him off the ground, and pulling him close to his face until Naruto could make out the blind Uchiha's misty grey eyes even from behind the dark shades he wore.

"Dobe." Sasuke growled menacingly, in a way that would ensure Naruto would no longer attempt such pointless efforts to harm him. Sasuke then threw Naruto into Kiba who was attempting to break them up. They both flew backwards, nearly falling off the edge of the roof, as Sasuke leapt down to the street below.

"Where are you going?" Naruto yelled from above.

"To find her." Sasuke called back.

Naruto gave Kiba a confused expression before they jumped down to join the Uchiha.

"I thought you said you didn't give a damn?" Naruto inquired.

"I don't. But if something were to happen to her while she had been staying at my home..." Sasuke mumbled quietly, "I don't want to be held responsible for her death."

"Figures." Naruto muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Enough of this bickering, let's get down to work." Kiba pulled ahead of the trio, leading the way around the Hokage's complex.

The trio scoured the area, searching every corner, every alley way, and every building-except one.

After nearly an hour had passed, they regrouped directly outside the Hokage's office building.

"It feels like we've looked over everything with a fine toothed comb. I feel like we may have to get inside the office building itself." Kiba suggested.

Naruto stretched in order to release the tension in his muscles, and to prepare himself for how ever many more hours it may take to find Sakura.

"Agreed," The blonde nodded, "But I doubt this place is unguarded, just take a look up there." Naruto pointed to a window on an upper level, through which Kiba could view shadowy figures that appeared to be sporting masks.

"Of course there'd be ANBU here while the Hokage is away." Kiba nearly moaned, "Something tells me we may have to notify the other teams for back up if we really dare to risk going in there. Akamaru, go notify Kakashi." Kiba's faithful companion bounded off into the night at his master's words.

"Do you smell that?" Sasuke asked Kiba. He knew Kiba's sense of smell could rival his.

"Yeah...You do too?" Kiba looked surprised.

Sasuke nodded.

"What? What is it?" Naruto asked.

"Cherry blossoms." Kiba replied. Naruto's jaw dropped.

"So she's been here!" He exclaimed, a look of hope finally appearing upon his face.

"Seems so." Sasuke whispered, as he motioned for them to approach the building.

All three darted to the nearest shadows, careful to avoid the shafts of light that came from the four lit windows on the south side of the building. Sasuke followed closely, hoping Kiba and Naruto were sensible enough to ensure there would be enough room to conceal him as well. The Uchiha could not sense where the artificial light fell.

"If I remember correctly, Ba-chan's office is on the top floor, second window from the left. We have to by-pass two other lit windows on this side of the building to reach that ledge." Naruto breathed.

"And we might be able to locate files on the ANBU mission concerning Sakura in there." Kiba added.

"Exactly. It should indicate where she is being held if..." Naruto paused.

"If she's still alive." Sasuke finished.

All three knew full-well the torture capabilities of the ANBU. It had been a race against time since the moment the random by-passer had informed Kakashi of what he had witnessed. Those who had been summoned to help deal with the situation had been searching for any indication of the possible burning, dismemberment or decapitation the specific ANBU group, the hunters, were well-known for.

"She has to be." Naruto's voice was full of a confidence and determination the likes of which Sasuke had never heard before. It dawned on Sasuke how unstable the situation may be making his blonde team mate, so close was he to Sakura.

"Maybe you should stay behind." Sasuke suggested. Both Naruto and Kiba turned to look at the blind Uchiha.

"What?" Naruto asked, amazed he could suggest such a ridiculous idea.

"You don't seem...Never mind."Sasuke didn't quite feel like explaining his reasoning. Kiba, however, seemed to understand.

"If the content of this mission is going to affect your performance, you may as well stay behind. Any wrong moves and we're dead." Kiba explained.

"I'm fine." Naruto insisted. Both Sasuke and Kiba realized that there would be no talking him out of accompanying them.

Kiba then reconsidered. Maybe his involvement with Sakura and his strong feelings towards her would give him the strength they would need to pull off this insane endeavour.

"Alright, let's do this." As one, the trio leapt from ledge to ledge, with Naruto and Kiba keeping a close watch on the lit windows, and Sasuke listening intently for any indication that someone had spotted them.

Kiba was the first to reach their destination. He motioned to Naruto to keep both him and Sasuke one ledge over until he could figure out how to quietly unlock the window. Naruto grabbed a hold of the back of Sasuke's navy shirt. They waited, as Naruto impatiently watched Kiba struggling with the lock.

Kiba had taken out a kunai, having infused it with some of his chakra to extend and narrow the jagged edge, and was in the process of fiddling with the locked latch.

It must have been a stroke of luck that allowed the locking mechanism to break. The gentle click of the window opening alerted Sasuke that it was safe to move, Naruto following close behind.

Kiba landed gently on the floor inside the Hokage's office, followed by the soft thud of Sasuke's arrival. Naruto slipped inside last, and closed the shutters behind them.

"If there was a seal placed on the inside of that window, guards may have been alerted by now. We have to move fast." Sasuke whispered hurriedly as the three set about searching desk drawers and filing cabinets. Sasuke was finding great difficulty with this part of the mission, as nothing was coded with Braille. Instead, he concentrated on listening for anyone who may be approaching, and set about trying to open filing cabinets.

"The file will be locked away. Don't bother searching drawers that open easily." He explained to the other two he could feel were looking at him with looks of concern.

"It won't be in her main desk then. All these drawers open easily." Naruto whispered.

"And this entire cabinet is comprised of the transcripts from meetings with village elders." Kiba said as he moved away from a cabinet by the door.

"Here." Sasuke indicated a locked filing cabinet that had been hidden in the back of a closet, behind a wooden panel.

"How did you...?" Naruto began.

"Didn't think it would be in the open." Sasuke replied simply.

Kiba pulled out the same kunai and fiddled with the lock on the drawer. It made a dangerously loud clicking noise. All three stood still as statues.

"Man I'm good." Kiba muttered to himself after a moment, thinking them in the clear.

"Quiet!" Sasuke hissed. He'd heard the shuffling of feet from the floor below. "I think they're coming."

Naruto strode over to the unlocked filing cabinet, and rummaged through the first drawer.

"These are all labelled 'completed'. I imagine that means the targets were annihilated." He spoke hurriedly.

"Skip it. She was taken captive. Try looking for other words like, 'pending', or 'prisoner'." Kiba offered.

Naruto searched the next two tiers of drawers in under thirty-seconds.

"How close are they?" He asked Sasuke as he pulled open the last drawer.

"You've got sixty seconds." Sasuke whispered from his position by the door. He could hear footsteps climbing stairs to the left of their position.

Naruto flipped through file after file in mere seconds, nearly passing by a file that seemed out of place to him.

"What the-?" He began, as he back tracked and pulled out the file that caught his attention.

"Got it?" Kiba asked, as he began to edge near the window, their only exit now as even he could hear the approaching footsteps that had seemed to reach the floor they were on.

"I think so." Naruto slid the file into the inner folds of his jacket.

"Twenty seconds." Sasuke informed them, as he too approached the window. "Move it, Naruto."

Kiba opened the shutters, and leapt away from the ledge, landing stealthily on the next nearest rooftop.

The sudden disappearance of Kiba's aura confused Sasuke. He couldn't be sure as to where Kiba had landed and paused on the ledge.

"What are you waiting for!" Naruto called from behind him. Shadows could be seen from the crack underneath the door to Tsunade's office.

"You go first." Sasuke motioned. Naruto's aura was blazing fiercely enough that he may be able to track it through the air.

"Fine." Naruto pushed past Sasuke and leapt to where Kiba was waiting. Sasuke pursued him immediately, pleased that the dobe's presence and out of control emotions were of some use after all.

As he landed, he felt Kiba's aura nearing him and a sharp-nailed hand grab hold of the front of his shirt and pull him down behind the building they had landed upon.

"That was close." He heard Kiba say as he let go of Sasuke's shirt. "A masked figure peeked out from the open window just seconds after you landed." He explained.

"Doesn't seem like he saw you." Naruto added, as he came over to them from a short way away. Sasuke assumed he had been trying to get a look of the office they'd escaped from to check and see if they would be followed.

"Let's get away from here in any case." Kiba decided.

Haruno Sakura woke with a start. She was lying on the filthy floor of the room she had been taken to. Her body ached as she stretched out her cramped muscles. She felt exhausted as she had slept for little more than an hour on the cold concrete beneath her. She stood and walked gingerly passed the chair, to the door. Through it, she could see the shadowy figures of the two ANBU who stood guard over her. One of them appeared to be dozing off, and she guessed it was late into the night. She turned and slumped down against the door.

"Is the traitor still breathing?" She heard the alert ANBU question. She stood again, and pressed her ear against the grain of the wood.

"I think she fell asleep..." Came the drowsy reply of the second ANBU as he yawned through his mask.

"Pity." The first replied.

"Perhaps. But think of it this way. If the Hokage returns to find her dead, we're out of a job."

"True, but it's rare that we ever keep one of them alive. I'm not used to sparing the murderous, deceitful, pieces of trash..." The first said, clearly uncomfortable with the idea.

"If we question the Hokage, we're as good as them." The second reminded his companion. "Kuroda Yuri is a traitor, but she may hold valuable information that could lead us to being able to dispatch dozens more of her kind."

"I suppose you're right. After all, once we've got all we need from her, she'll be nothing more than ash." The first reassured himself.

Almost instantly, Sakura's jaw dropped. As she considered the conversation she'd overheard and replayed the information through her mind, she realized the ANBU had mistaken her for an actual traitor. This knowledge, which would normally reassure a prisoner of their innocence, did little to appease Sakura's anxiety. She knew immediately the ANBU would never listen to her pleading, as sure of themselves as they always were... They were the flawless elite squad of the Kages. There would be no such thing as a mistake as far as they were concerned. And she doubted greatly that they would simply apologize and send her on her way even if she could prove she wasn't Kuroda Yuri. The mistake would be swept under the rug.

Either way, she would be killed.

Sakura slumped back down, and reached up to touch the tears that were falling freely. The salty-liquid streaked through the grime that had accumulated on her cheeks.

_It's over...I'm going to die...It's over..._Was all that ran through Sakura's mind in that moment.

A last shining hope seemed to push through her dooming mantra.

Tsunade. The Hokage herself was like a mother to Sakura. If the Hokage would be interrogating her, she would know as soon as she laid eyes on her that the ANBU had taken the wrong kunoichi.

_I still have a chance! _Sakura realized, as she brushed the tears from her cheeks.

"You know...If the Hokage doesn't return within the week, we could always do the interrogation ourselves. As much as she loves extracting information, I'm sure she wouldn't mind if we jumped the gun on this one. Then we could rid ourselves of this traitor for good, and get a head start on hunting the rest down." Sakura heard the first ANBU realize.

Sakura went numb.

_If Tsunade-sama doesn't return in time, there'll be nothing left of me for her to save..._

Sakura lay back down on the floor and wept.

As far as she knew, she was as good as dead.

Together, Naruto, Kiba and Sasuke moved silently out from between the alleyways of the buildings surrounding the Hokage's office complex. Once sure they were a safe distance away, Naruto reached to pull out the ANBU file from his jacket.

"Naruto...That doesn't have Sakura's name on it. It says 'Kuroda Yuri'". Kiba spoke, aghast that they had wasted their time for nothing thanks to the dobe.

"Tch," Sasuke crossed his arms.

"I know. That's the thing. Look at this photo." Naruto flipped open the file and pulled out a photo of Kuroda Yuri out from under a paper clip.

Kiba audibly gasped.

"It's Sakura!" He exclaimed.

"Right? She looks just like her, just with auburn hair." Naruto confirmed.

"Like twins..." Kiba sounded amazed, "Read the file. What's she wanted for?"

"She was a key player in the exchange of valuable information for money. She's been affiliated with the Akatsuki. So basically-" Naruto started.

"She's a traitor." Sasuke finished.

"Yeah, jounin rank." Naruto confirmed. He flipped to the next page of the file. "Wow, you guys aren't going to believe this..." Naruto laughed, "They're keeping her in an underground facility...Seems its right underneath the place we just left!"

"Why are you laughing, idiot?" Sasuke chided, "You realize that just makes things ten times more difficult for us. The whole place has probably been alerted to keep a look-out for intruders."

"How the hell are we going to get back in there?" Kiba asked aloud as Naruto sobered up like a scolded child.

"Get where?" Came the voice of Hatake Kakashi. Many of the same group from before had appeared around the trio, Akamaru jaunting back to Kiba's side.

"Good job, boy." Kiba spoke as he patted the top of Akamaru's head.

"Here," Naruto tossed the file to Kakashi, who quickly scanned it and re-iterated its contents to the gathered group.

"So what are we going to do?" Rock Lee questioned, concern for Sakura etched in his voice.

"First thing's first. I'm going to the elders and showing them this file. It will serve as proof of the mistake. Hopefully I can convince them I've retrieved it on legal terms since breaking into Tsunade's office would probably put us in the same position Sakura's in. I've left Kurenai at the front gates to await Tsunade's arrival. She's already late...Hopefully if we plan this right, our timing will work to our advantage and no one will get hurt. Here's what I'm going to need you all to do..." Kakashi began.

**Author's Note**: Well, I'm back! For the time being anyways...And yes, this story has been on-going for years now, and yes, it's about time I've updated the re-write. I'm excited to finish this project. It'll give my mind some peace, and allow me to move on to greater creative projects. I enjoyed re-writing this chapter, and giving it more believability and maturity than its predecessor. We rarely get to glimpse the ANBU in the series itself, and so it's difficult ascribing them a way of being, and attitudes. Hopefully this does not disappoint! The next chapter re-write will be up soon! I've got some time before heading back to University to put some work in on this Look forward to it and review!

-AdventRain.

P.S. Many thanks to all of those who have continued to support my stories and plots over the years! Much love! And I hope you all enjoyed a fantastic Christmas and a wonderful New Year!


	8. Chapter 7: I'll Be Your Saviour

**Chapter 7: I'll Be Your Saviour**

This was supposed to be easy. That was the deal. Spend time with a living block of ice, try and help him, and assure the village he can keep his title. Move on. Being held captive for crimes she didn't commit was never a part of the bargain. Just get him to open up, and things would return to normal.

Accepting that she was going to die wasn't something she'd expected she'd have to do for decades.

She was supposed to train hard, finish her medical schooling, and become the best medical-nin Konoha had ever seen since Tsunade herself.

That had been her decided path. Her goal. Her dream.

But now, all of that was slipping away, like tiny grains of sand falling from a closed hand. As she recalled certain milestones of her short life, and remembered everyone she knew, she couldn't help but realize she wouldn't be the only one letting herself down...She would be letting down others as well.

Her friends, her sensei, Tsunade-sama, her parents, and perhaps, most of all, Uchiha Sasuke.

If it all ended here...If she would never live to breathe fresh air ever again...He would be out of options. He would be cast away by the village. His title and ranking stripped immediately. His remaining pride and dignity completely abolished. And his reason for existing would cease.

_Will he resent me even more? Will I be hated long after death? _Sakura wondered as she brought her knees to her chest and sat near the door, leaning her head against the wall. Her head was bowed, and her hair hung limply around her face. She slept for what felt like ages but she knew it could have only been minutes. The same two ANBU stood outside her door, one continuing to nod off now and then.

She did not cry anymore. The only thing she would have displaying any kind of weakness before death would be her tear-stained cheeks. She had finally come to terms with her fate.

She had never once believed it would be possible that she would have to accept the fact that she was going to die at the young age of seventeen.

A shadowy figure approached a tall building in complete silence. It reached the side of the building and quickly scanned the area for any sight of an ANBU guard. As the figure had guessed, there was no movement.

They all must have been inside. Waiting.

Kiba turned back towards the direction from which he came and motioned to the hidden group of ninja, signalling that the way was clear.

Instantly, three separate teams dispersed, each taking a different side of the building, as the two remaining members of his own make-shift team made their way towards him.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Kiba would be taking the most difficult route into the building.

They were to attempt walking straight through the front door.

Their team (thanks entirely in part to the constant persistence and arguments from Naruto) was to be the group that would delve into the heart of the underground facility to track down Sakura.

The other three teams were assigned the task of keeping the ANBU occupied by any means necessary in the upper levels of the building.

They were all specifically ordered, not only by Kakashi-sensei, but by their own Jounin team leaders, that hand-to-hand combat was to be avoided at all costs, and that only illusory techniques, tricks, and decoys were to be used.

At any hint of becoming overpowered, they were to abandon mission.

_This is like walking into a lion's den, covered in raw meat..._Kiba mused, as the three of them reached the entrance. They were to wait exactly five minutes for the other teams to draw the attention of the ANBU guards inside.

As soon as they heard commotion from a nearby open window exactly five minutes later, Sasuke cast an intricate genjutsu that would allow their complete concealment as though they were specifically covered in chameleon-like camouflage. Kakashi had only taught Sakura and himself the intricacies of this jutsu, with Sasuke being the less-efficient of the two. Without Sakura however, his would have to do.

"On the count of three." Kiba breathed, as he wrapped his hand around the handle of one of the doors.

"One, two, three." He counted, and on three, the door was yanked open. All three and Akamaru disappeared inside and pulled the door shut merely seconds later.

Anyone who would have been watching the entrance to the building would have simply thought they had imagined the door swinging open.

Inside, they sprinted along the corridor, keeping pressed against the walls in case they passed anyone along its length.

As they neared the door to stairs they had all believed led simply to a basement, and had now discovered otherwise, they paused simultaneously.

Scuffling noises from above them indicated the others had been as successful as possible in their own missions. Distant explosions could be heard from floors further up, and shouts, yells, and screams seemed to come from all directions.

"We can't stop here, if anyone has been hurt, it would have been for nothing if we do not keep moving!" Kiba stressed as quietly as he could.

Naruto moved forward. As he attempted to open the door that would lead to the only stair case leading to the bottom levels, he grunted in frustration as his suspicions that it would be securely locked were confirmed.

"I'm blasting my way through. We don't have time to waste." His hands moved silently and in a moment, the door flew off of its hinges in a deadly blast.

"Go!" Sasuke yelled. The ANBU would have no doubt pinpointed the location of the blast and would soon be on their way, with or without the efforts of the other teams.

As one, they flew down the stairs. They were each amazed by how many they were. After a few minutes, and nearly forty flights later, Sasuke held out his arms to stop their rapid descent.

"Genjutsu." He muttered. They'd fallen into an illusion.

"Never-ending staircase...Clever." Kiba remarked.

"Sakura was the best at breaking through these..." Naruto commented, the sadness evident in his voice.

"Together, then." Sasuke commanded. They each made the same hand motions as they prepared to break the illusion. It took a few unsuccessful attempts for Sasuke to round on Naruto.

"Focus! They'll be onto us in no time!" He hissed.

"Alright, alright! Again!" This time, their counter-jutsu was successful.

As the illusion faded, their surroundings shifted. They stood in a dingy hall, with one door at the end. A small window at the top of the door was the only interesting feature. It was bared.

"It's a cell." Kiba explained in a barely audible whisper, for Sasuke's benefit.

They made no sound. They were going to have to rely on Sasuke's acute hearing to know whether or not they were in immediate danger.

"They're behind that door! Back up the stairs quickly!" He hissed.

"Eat, wench." One of the ANBU ordered as he threw down a plate of slop at Sakura's feet.

She stared at the grey slime in disgust.

The second ANBU walked forward and hit her cheek with the back of his gloved hand. She flew back into the wall, very shakily lifted herself back to her feet, and coughed up blood.

"Do as you're told." He commanded.

A distant crash interrupted a second punch as Sakura continued to refuse to eat it.

"What was that?" The first ANBU questioned.

"I'm not sure, let's go check it out." They both turned to leave, before the second ANBU paused.

"That had better be gone by the time we return." He threatened, pushing the tray closer to Sakura with his foot before leaving the cell and slamming the door shut behind him.

Sakura picked up and threw the plate against the back of the door with full force as she heard them retreating down the long corridor.

It smashed into pieces, leaving the grey slop to drip slowly down the grainy wood.

She secretly hoped whatever that distant noise had been, that it would prevent the ANBU from returning for a while. She was sure her disobedience would not be rewarded kindly.

Sasuke, Kiba and Naruto were pressed up against the sides of the staircase, listening intently for any indication as to when the ANBU would exit the cell at the far end of the corridor.

"Listen, when they come out, I'm going to create a diversion. I will lead them back up the way we came to give you both the chance to reach the cell. Stay as flush to this wall as you can. I'm going to break my camouflage." Kiba explained.

"But you'll be killed!" Naruto whispered as loudly as he dared.

"Not with a little luck..." Kiba mumbled quietly, "And I have Akamaru's help..." He pet the dog as if doing so was a calming motion for the two of them.

"It sounded like it came from upstairs..." They heard a voice at the end of the corridor say as the sound of a door slamming shut indicated the ANBU had heard the commotion from the other teams and had decided to leave their prisoner.

Kiba instantly dropped his camouflage and jumped down the last flight of stairs to the corridor.

He smiled and waved at the ANBU hunters, yelling, "Yo! I slept with your mommas last night!" then he turned and bounded back up the stairs alongside Akamaru with their canine speed. Even with their speed boost, the ANBU were in hot pursuit.

Sasuke used a jutsu designed to help phase through solid objects in order to push his body back into the wall. It was a moment too late before he realized that Naruto was the only one he knew who couldn't accomplish this feat. One of the ANBU would undoubtedly brush into him as he could hear through the vibrations of the ANBU's footfalls that they sprinted side-by-each after Kiba.

Seconds later, Sasuke inwardly groaned at Naruto's idiocy as he felt the powerful aura of one of the ANBU smash into the panicked aura of the dobe.

"There's another one!" The ANBU called out to his companion who had kept dashing on, completely flying past the camouflaged and phased Sasuke.

The ANBU turned abruptly and grabbed hold of Naruto. The dobe's camouflage dropped instantly as the ANBU masterfully countered its effects. Naruto had only a couple seconds while the ANBU focused on revealing the intruder to pull free of his grasp, make shadow clones of himself, and send them all sprinting down the corridor after Kiba, with himself effectively lost in their midst.

The ANBU yelled in frustration, trying to eliminate as many copies as he could as he chased after the annoying nine-tailed fox demon host.

Sasuke waited minutes for their auras to completely disappear far above him before daring to phase back out of the wall.

_I can't believe we're all risking our necks for her...I can't believe I'M risking my life for her..._He kept thinking to himself as he focussed on maintaining his camouflage.

He ran down the last few steps as quickly as he dared without his team mate's auras to guide him.

Although the coast ahead was clear, Sasuke was careful not to make a sound.

He approached the cell-like door and immediately knew something was off.

There was no sound of anyone behind this door.

He pulled it open, surprised it was unlocked, and struggled to figure out what to do next.

He walked through the door's entrance, and felt carefully along what seemed like another hall. He concentrated to see if another genjustu had been used as a second defence mechanism.

He couldn't find a thing.

He traced his hands along the walls to either side of him, before he realized he could feel two more doors on either side of him. As he continued to move down the hall, he identified several more.

It was a hall of never-ending doors. Each seemingly leading to a new chamber.

Sasuke's heart began to race within his chest. At any moment, another ANBU could come bursting out from behind one of these doors and end his miserable life. He laughed inwardly at himself for believing it would have been so easy to find the Haruno girl.

_I just need to find the room she's in..._He tried to calm himself. As far as he could tell, no sounds seemed to be coming from behind any of the doors nearest him.

He pushed on down the hallway, trying to see if he could sense the girl's bright pink aura.

As he reached the end of the hallway, there remained only a single door.

He nearly missed the faint pink aura that softly emanated from behind the door. It had been so faint, he was about to turn back and try and discover whether they held prisoners elsewhere. But there it was.

He tried to open the large oak door, but it was, like all the other doors on this floor, locked. He held his hand near the door handle, his left hand securing his right wrist, as blue lightning cackled around his fingers in preparation for the use of Chidori.

Sakura trembled near the side of the room. It had become so cold within the dark and dingy cell. She shivered uncontrollably. The cold seemed to creep through to her bones. She was about to let the hunger and the cold become excuses for her to give up, when she heard a loud explosion coming from the door.

The very next thing she became aware of was the feeling of a warm hand grabbing her arm and pulling her to her feet.

She was stunned.

He had come for her.

She had never thought she would have ever been so happy to see him.

Uchiha Sasuke had saved her.

"Hurry." He whispered gently.

It was strange to hear the softness in his voice. Why was he being so kind?

He grabbed hold of her hand and pulled her out of the room, and out of the cold darkness.

He pulled her all the way down the hall lined with doors, through a cell-like door and down another corridor, up many flights of stairs, down yet another hall and through the final set of doors leading to outside.

He pulled her along all the way to a distant park, districts from the Hokage's building.

He let go of her hand then, and only then.

"H-how did you...W-when did you?" She managed to choke out, though her voice was hoarse from disuse.

"I didn't. It was the others..." He answered stoically.

"The others? Where are they? Are they with you?" She questioned as she looked into the shadows, almost half-expecting to see Kakashi-sensei, Naruto, and the others appearing from nowhere.

"No, but we can't linger in the streets." He said.

"Are they okay?" She asked worriedly.

"They'll be fine. Now let's get the hell out of here."

Minutes later, they arrived at the Uchiha household.

"Get in your room." Sasuke said forcefully. Sakura shivered as it reminded her of the orders she'd had to endure over the last several hours.

"What are you, my mother?" Sakura asked defiance in her voice. She could hardly believe he could go from her saviour to the jerk he had always been in less than ten minutes.

"Why are you so damned annoying?" He asked quietly.

"Why are you the way you are! I've just been through hell and back! Up until a few minutes ago, I believed I was dead!" She screamed at him.

She stopped and blinked at the boy in front of her. His unseeing eyes scared her for a minute, they looked furious. It was as though he was giving her a cold glare...

"What?" She asked, "Why don't you ever say what you're thinking?"

"You have to stay hidden for a few hours until Kakashi-sensei and the Hokage can sort things out with the village elders and the ANBU." He said, "Go to your room and get some rest."

Sasuke turned back towards the front door.

Sakura was stunned. He had just completed a conversation with her without having used any insults or curse words. Maybe he was finally becoming more human than a block of ice...

"Thank you..." She said to his back.

"..."

"Where are you going?" She asked him.

"To make sure two losers didn't make a mistake that cost them their lives..."He muttered.

He opened the door, and left.

Sakura turned, collapsed onto the living room couch, and passed out. She was too exhausted to make it to her bedroom.

'_Sakura...' _

'What?'

'_Sakura...'_

'Who is that?'

"SAKURA-CHAN!"

Sakura's eyes flew open and through the grogginess she could just make out that someone's face was barely centimetres from her own.

"AHHH! Pervert!" She screamed as she slapped the figure.

She rubbed her eyes, to find Naruto rubbing the side of his face.

"Sakura-chaaan!" He whined.

"Oh! Sorry Naruto I didn't know it was you! And Kiba's here too!" She exclaimed as she got up to hug them both.

Sasuke was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, and a stoic expression on his face.

"How did you find them?" She asked, "The ANBU must be everywhere..."

Kiba blushed and scratched the back of his head.

"Well it's not as though we got away from that place unscathed..."

Sakura stepped back to fully examine the three of them. They all had bruises, scrapes, scratches, torn clothes, and blood everywhere, and Naruto had a large bump on the back of his head.

"So...What happened?" She demanded, more than a little worried.

"Well, you see, it all began when Kiba yelled that he slept with the ANBU's mothers..." Naruto said.

Everyone was silent. Sakura and Naruto tried hard not to laugh but it was unbelievably hard not to.

Sakura gave way first, giving a happy giggle, the first time she had laughed whole-heartedly in a while.

Then the loud Naruto started to break out into laughter, and even Kiba couldn't resist joining in.

Sasuke gave a little cough that was his way to suppress his laughter.

Everyone was silenced again as they all turned to look at the blind boy.

No one noticed the near-laugh, but everyone noticed the smallest smile.

"Wha-?" Sakura started mouth agape.

Sasuke quickly cleared his throat, and turned swiftly in the direction of his room.

"Did he just...?" Naruto began.

"Yeah, he smiled." Sakura whispered in awe.


	9. Chapter 8: We Owe This To Ourselves

**Chapter 8: We Owe This To Ourselves**

"Just go for it." Sakura urged herself.

She was standing inside the Uchiha home, facing the front door.

"Yeah, c'mon!" Inner Sakura added.

Sakura lifted her hand to meet the door handle, and hesitated.

"But maybe I should just stay..." She spoke aloud.

"What? Why? We've been cooped up in this place for three days now! As long as we're careful, what's the worst that can happen?" Inner Sakura attempted to reason.

"The ANBU are still looking for me, or rather, the traitor they think I am. Tsunade-sama has been delayed on her return, and Kakashi-sensei has made only a little progress with the village elders. It would be incredibly dangerous to leave here... They've even got a few jounin keeping an eye on the Uchiha district in case any ANBU are spotted nearby..." Sakura spoke aloud again, dropping her hand back to her side, and giving a great sigh.

"Oh c'mon just disguise yourself if you're so worried!" Inner Sakura argued.

This time, Sakura didn't say anything as she just stood staring at the wood of the door.

An image of Uchiha Sasuke came to her mind. It was of that time, three days ago, when he had let that little emotion slip. She couldn't resist a smile. Maybe her being here was influencing him?

She shook her head and laughed sarcastically.

_There's no way...He's still got himself shut up in that room of his..._

The Uchiha hadn't stepped foot outside his bedroom, not even once. At least, not to Sakura's knowledge anyways.

_He's still the same...Completely shutting everything and everyone out...Nothing in the rest of the world matters...Not even me-the girl he risked his life to save..._

She had tried and failed to get him to come out, though as she had predicted, her pestering had only led to them arguing and raising frustrations more than was absolutely necessary.

"You're worried about him, aren't you?" Inner Sakura teased, "Hell yeah!" She shouted, as Sakura blushed immensely.

"Sure, you might hate his guts, but I'm proud of you! I know everything!" Inner Sakura pointed out.

"Okay, then tell me exactly what it is I feel towards him then!" Sakura rebutted against her inner-self. She was sure that inner-her would come up with nothing.

"Well, for starters, you think he's strikingly handsome!" Inner Sakura laughed.

"What! Why would you think...Well, maybe...But that doesn't mean I can't hate him!" Sakura continued, arguing with herself.

"Tchyeah right!" Inner Sakura yelled.

"Fine, I'm leaving! Just to prove I don't give a damn about that selfish jerk!" Sakura nearly yelled herself.

_So what if he told me I can't go out until things have cleared up...Who is HE to order me around? _She inwardly convinced herself. She seemed to ignore all other caution whenever her mind became clouded and frustrated with thoughts of the Uchiha. Her brief return to his abode had returned her to her full sense of safety, leaving the nightmare of her capture something distant in the back of her mind.

She turned and grabbed a dark, hooded jacket, put it on, and lifted the hood up to obscure her face from view.

"This is it." She spoke to herself again as she turned the door handle.

"Sakura..." Came a voice from behind her. Sakura's heart skipped a beat. A look of total embarrassment washed over her shocked expression as she turned to look at the person who had just called her name.

Sasuke stood close by, his head turned in her direction with a stoic expression on his face. Completely speechless, Sakura stood frozen to the spot. Not only had she been caught in the act of disobeying him, she wondered how long he'd been standing there exactly. She hadn't even noticed he'd entered the entrance hall.

"I knew you were crazy, but talking to yourself? Even I have to admit that may need psychiatric evaluation." He spoke.

"Uh, I-I was just..." She started, her voice trembling. He had caught her red-handed.

Then it dawned on her-he couldn't see what she was doing. As far as he knew she'd just been standing there muttering to herself. He couldn't see the jacket she'd thrown on or her hand on the door handle. She was safe, as long as he didn't piece it together.

Lost within her own contemplations, she hadn't noticed that the Uchiha was walking away from her and back towards the stairs.

All embarrassment and shock gone, anger soon quelled up inside her.

"Wait!" She called after him, as she threw the jacket off and followed him.

She was about to interrogate the jerk as to why he'd finally decided to exit his room, when she'd noticed that the bathroom door at the end of the hall at the top of the stairs was ajar.

Sasuke, not listening to Sakura, kept on going until he'd reached the top landing, entered his room, and closed the bedroom door behind him.

She was about to pound on the door when an idea suddenly struck her full force. An evil grin appeared on the kunoichi's face.

_Of course, he's only human after all...Like everyone else he's gotta use the washroom every now and then...He must've come out before and I've just never caught him in the hall before. Sneaky punk._

Finally, with something to do to waste time and bother the Uchiha, Sakura headed to the bathroom.

Once there, she entered the shower stall fully clothed. Here, she would hide and wait for the Uchiha to come out of his room.

_When he opens the door, I'll jump out and surprise him, this way, he can't run right back into his bedroom and lock himself up again! You're not going to be anti-social the whole damned time I'm here, Sasuke! _She planned.

Normally, Haruno Sakura was not the type to go to such lengths, plotting pranks on others simply to get a job done. But if she considered this job as a mission, she realized there were very few lengths she wouldn't go to in order to get it accomplished. No way would she allow herself to fail.

Desperate times, call for desperate measures.

Hours passed, and Sakura was nearly dozing off. As she waited and waited, she slumped down to the bottom of the shower stall, completely bored out of her mind, as her eyes slowly fluttered shut.

Minutes later, she heard the sound of Sasuke's bedroom door opening, his footstep's approaching, and just as the bathroom door swung open, Sakura jumped out of the shower stall.

"Boo!" She couldn't resist shouting. It was mostly thanks to Naruto's influence on her as she spent more and more time with him when they trained.

Sasuke jumped back in surprise, only now realizing that Sakura's bright pink aura had been emanating from the bathroom.

"Haruno! What the hell are you doing?" He asked, a hint of anger lacing his words.

Sakura quickly ran behind him and slammed the bathroom door shut. Then she positioned herself between the door and Sasuke, blocking his only way out.

Sasuke, who had been following her movements with her aura, rounded on her.

"Leave."He said threateningly.

"Only if you promise to stop shutting yourself up in your room." Sakura countered.

"It's my room, my house, my life. And the way I want it, doesn't have you in it." He said coldly.

Sakura stayed silent. It surprised her how she felt hurt by his statement. Why didn't she just feel angered, or hate, like usual?

Taking a slow, steady breath, she said defiantly, "You know what, I don't care. I don't care what you want or what the hell you think is best, because you know what? You're not always right like you constantly presume you are. This time, you're going to listen to me, because I'm not here because I want to be part of your life either."

He approached her aura until he guessed his face was mere inches from hers, and then he whispered, "Really? And who's going to make me listen?"

Then he pushed the annoying girl out of his way with such force, he nearly threw her to the ground.

The skin where his hands had touched her arms seemed to spark with an invisible force of lightning, sending a tingling feeling up and down her spine.

Opening the bathroom door, he stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

Sakura stood there a moment, too stunned to move.

_What just happened? What did he do to me? _She inspected her bare arms. There were no marks. _But if he didn't do anything...What the hell was that? And why aren't I angry?_

Inside of her, there was small place that held the answer. When had that place been there? She'd only just discovered its existence. But she was fearful of what she may discover there...

She didn't really want to know why she had never truly stayed angry at him. Or why she had just felt some unexplainable force.

She was almost certain that this hidden place, deep down inside her, would go away with time.

Slowly, she opened the bathroom door and walked down the hall until she reached the doorway to Sasuke's bedroom. The door lay open, and no one was inside.

It was then that she heard the voices coming from the front door.

_Maybe Tsunade-sama came back...? _She hoped.

Her heart started pounding fast as another idea confronted her.

_Or maybe it's the ANBU._ She began to panic.

She listened harder to hear what the voices were saying, ignoring entirely the new discovery of her deepest, developing, feelings.

"We're looking for someone...Kuroda Yuri. We have it on credible sources that you escorted a young lady home the other night. Is there any possibility that we can confirm she's not the same woman?" A voice demanded. It seemed more of a polite gesture than an actual request for permission.

_Credible sources? Kakashi-sensei? Naruto? __No…It couldn't have been them…_

Sakura wondered what Sasuke was thinking at that moment as he stood listening to the man at the door, who she guessed was undoubtedly an ANBU. She crept slowly down the stairs, trying not to make a sound, in the hopes of catching a confirming glimpse of the trademark mask.

She reached the last step, pressed her back against the wall, and peeked around the corner to the front door. There stood an ANBU and Sasuke looking straight ahead, his eyes focussing on a point somewhere over the ANBU's shoulder.

"I've never heard of anyone named Kuroda Yuri before in my life." Sasuke said, slowly, convincingly.

The masked ANBU stood towering over the blind young man before him, and Sakura couldn't help but notice how vulnerable the Uchiha looked. She felt the urge to interject, to say something to back him up, or even to come out of hiding and try explaining their grave mistake. But she knew from experience that they would never listen. That she would only make things worse.

And secretly, she had to admit, the sight of the ANBU invading upon her safe hiding place was terrifying her. She had never wanted to see an ANBU again. It had been too traumatizing...

"Is that so?" The ANBU asked in his gruff voice. His masked face turned in the direction of the stairs and Sakura jumped back out of sight, her heart pounding heavily in her chest.

She was suddenly afraid the man feet away from her would be able to hear it, or her fast and heavy breathing.

She quickly turned back up the stairs and ran. She stopped in the doorway to her room.

_What am I doing? Am I running away, like a coward? Am I going to run away scared like a mouse chased by a cat? _

She hated cowards. She turned on her heel, and had half a mind to go right back down the stairs and reveal herself, though her hands trembled with fear.

_I have to do something! Anything! _ She tried calming herself.

She was slowly coming back down the stairs, when she heard the two talking again.

"I told you, she's not here. Leave." Sasuke said.

"You know what, I think I'll take a look around, just to make sure." The ANBU said, as he took a step inside the home.

The emotionless face of the blind Uchiha changed, for just a split second, as Sakura dared peek around the corner again. He looked worried, or scared, or perhaps both?

Sakura couldn't tell, she hadn't been around him long enough to read anything beside anger off of him.

Sakura had had enough. She was going to face her fears. She was going to clear up the mess that had been created all thanks to a misfortune of her looks.

She stepped down from the bottom step, and into plain view.

Sasuke turned in her direction, a look of complete disbelief crossing his face as he sensed her merely feet from him.

"Ah, there you are." The ANBU said, as he sprinted at her, completing a few complicated hand motions.

Sakura hadn't expected a full-on attack of this magnitude, particularly not one aimed a prisoner she assumed they still required for information.

_How is that-? _She couldn't even complete the thought as she was interrupted by the sudden appearance of smoke engulfing the ANBU.

The smoke cleared, and there was Naruto, laughing.

"Oh man! I got you guys good! You should have seen the look on Sasuke's face when I said I'd be searching the house! And when you showed yourself Sakura-chan! Oh man, priceless!" He burst out in more laughter.

"NARUTO!" Sakura shrieked. She balled her hand into a fist and punched Naruto clear to the other side of the room.

"That was NOT funny!" She continued to scream at him, "You're such an idiot!"

Sasuke just stood there, listening to the two bickering.

_How could I have been so..._He hated the word, _blind?_ _Why couldn't I sense that fool's pungent aura?_

He was about to storm off, to brood some more within the dark confines of his room, when he heard more voices approaching the front door.

_What the hell is this, an open house? _He thought, outraged.

Sakura paused as she was just about to give Naruto another black eye, and looked towards the door.

Hinata, Shikamaru, Neji, Choji, Ino, Kiba, Shino, TenTen and Rock Lee were all standing around the entrance to the Uchiha home, laughing, or smiling in the case of those less-expressive.

Ino then spoke up:

"Sorry forehead girl but when Naruto thought pulling a prank might lighten things up, I couldn't help myself..."

"Ino-pig." Sakura acknowledged, "Knew that prank was too smart for Naruto..." She said, as she turned back to Naruto and completed the punch that had been temporarily stalled.

"Sorry Sakura-chan! But we really did come here to get you, since you've been stuck in here for days. We figured you could use some fresh air. We're all going to dinner." Naruto said, though his face had gotten puffy from Sakura's beatings.

"That's a great idea! Hold on let me just go change quickly; I'll be back in a few." She said, as she turned towards the stairs.

Everyone who had been causing a raucous at Sasuke's front door went silent as they heard a loud coughing coming from the Uchiha himself. They all directed their attention towards him.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Sasuke asked Sakura quietly.

"Uh, don't think so." She replied.

Sasuke, who was trying his hardest to repress his anger, calmly said, "The ANBU."

"What about them?" She asked, clearly hiding her fear behind mock bravery.

_Is she really that stupid? _Sasuke wondered.

"They're still looking for you." He said, stubborn aggravation clear in his voice.

"No, they're looking for that Jounin." Sakura huffed. She was being defiant solely for the reason that Sasuke was trying to ruin a night that was sure to be full of fun and laughter-something she felt she needed to fully recuperate.

"You know what I mean." Sasuke growled.

"Yo, teme! You don't have to worry about your girl, alright? She's safe with us! Besides, we're going to a very remote and secluded restaurant within the Uchiha district." Naruto tried reassuring the blind orphan.

"Yeah man, we won't let her fall into the wrong hands. Who do you take us for?" Shikamaru added, "Although, the whole ordeal may be quite troublesome..."

Ino nudged Shikamaru in the ribs, "Not helping..." She muttered.

But Sasuke was no longer paying attention to the fools invading upon his personal space (which was quite a large area for the lonely Uchiha). All arguments subsided within Sasuke's mind as soon as Naruto had spoken the words 'your girl'. Anger built up as Sasuke believed Naruto had crossed a line, even if he had been joking.

"You know what, dobe? I don't really care. Go, leave! I'm sure a bunch of chuunin rank idiots can really stand up against an encounter with the ANBU without resorting to parlour tricks and gimmicks. Besides, if they managed to succeed and that annoying girl disappeared, I'd be more than okay with that. No loss here." Sasuke spoke coldly before shrugging and heading back up the stairs towards his room, passing by Sakura, who stood still as a statue.

Tears of anger brimmed in her eyes as the crowd gathered watched silently. No one dared move as the atmosphere was thick with tension.

"That annoying girl has a name you know?" She shouted after him. He closed his door behind him, cutting himself away from the world.

"Uh, we'll just um...Wait for you outside, Sakura-san..." Rock Lee suggested politely as he motioned for the rest of the group to clear out.

Everyone turned to leave, except for Ino. Naruto would have stayed behind as well, had it not been for the death glare she had given him.

Sakura stormed into her room, closely followed by Ino.

"Hey...Are you alright forehead girl? What's gotten into you?" Ino looked sincerely worried.

Of course, Ino had had a crush on Uchiha Sasuke since the first day she had laid eyes on him, but had gotten the hint after years of constant rejection. She had always believed her pink-haired friend had felt the same way, which had led to their constant name-calling battles. Although, quite recently, Ino had set her sights on someone much closer to her...

"I'm fine. Really. I don't know why he gets under my skin so easily...But I'll get over it, like always." Sakura reassured, as she pulled out a fresh pair of clothes, which Ino quickly grabbed and shoved back into the drawers.

"You're definitely not going to wear those...You're going to look nice tonight. Something different that will help you become less recognizable. Though I'm not sure what we're going to do about that pink hair of yours, you'll definitely need to hide it." She said, as she pulled out black cargos and a plain navy tank top. Plain, and simple, yet nicer than the clothes Sakura had chosen previously.

Sakura fished around in another drawer before pulling out a baseball cap and tried on the entire ensemble. When she had finished, she turned towards Ino, motioning for her opinion.

Ino shook her head.

"No hat." She indicated the ratty cap Sakura had thrown on. Sakura tossed it aside. Her hair had grown since she'd last cut it, letting the pink locks fall a few inches past her shoulder blades.

"But the hair?" Sakura worried.

"Do you have anything else?" Ino asked, "Something nicer than a baseball cap? It's not even really appropriate for dinner anyways..."

"Um, I think I may have a black bandana somewhere, but it's just as bad..."

"Well, anything's better than that beat up old thing. Put it on and let me see."

About ten minutes later, the two girls were about to leave the house when,

"Hold on Ino-pig." Sakura said, as she wore her black and white bandana, leaving a few strands of hair falling in front of her eyes. Ino had insisted that she put on some jewellery and was about to add makeup, but that was where Sakura drew the line. She had conceded to the hoop earrings and simple necklace, but that was all.

Sakura crossed the hall to the Uchiha's bedroom door. She knocked softly.

_This is crazy... _Sakura thought. Although she'd wanted nothing more than to be able to stay out all night partying with her friends, she knew she was still on the job, and that was definitely not part of its description.

"You haven't left yet?" Came a quiet voice from the other side of the door.

"I'm not going to sit here talking to a door, open up." Sakura called back.

He did-simple as that. Uchiha Sasuke opened the door upon request.

_That was uncharacteristically fast..._Sakura thought.

"What?" He asked.

"We're leaving now, are you ready?"

"_What_?" He repeated.

"I said, let's go!" She rolled her eyes, as she grabbed onto his sleeve and pulled him out from his room. He pulled his arm free and took a step back almost immediately.

"I'm not going." He stated brusquely.

"Why the hell not?" She asked.

"I don't want to." He replied easily.

"Your point? We all have to do things we don't want to...Besides, tonight's going to be fun." She tried to convince him. Her nerves were growing shorter and shorter by the second, but her inner self was cheering her on.

"I'm not going." He said again, retreating as far back as the doorway to his room again.

"Yeah, you are." She said.

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are!"

"No way in hell..."

"Oh for crying out loud!" Ino yelled, "That's it! You're both coming whether you like it or not!" She grabbed hold of the both of them and dragged them outside.

Sakura was a little scared. Ino could be scary when she was getting what she wanted.

"Finally. What the heck were you doing in there?" Naruto whined.

"Geez Naruto, they're girls. What did you expect?" Kiba intoned.

"Eh, Sasuke's coming?" Choji questioned.

"Do you have a problem with that?" Sakura growled.

"Nah, but he ain't getting any of my food." Choji replied, shrugging.

As they began to walk down the driveway, no one noticed Sasuke had turned back around and was heading towards his house.

"Where do you think you're going?" Sakura called, as she grabbed onto his arm yet again. He made to pull his arm back, but she tightened her grip.

"Nowhere with you. Now let go." A hint of a threat played on his voice.

"You aren't going somewhere with me. You're going somewhere with all of us."

"Even worse." He muttered.

"You have to come." Her voice had quieted. Sasuke was bothered by the unfamiliar sadness in her voice.

"Why does it matter so much to you?" He wondered aloud.

"Because..." She tried to respond. A second of silence passed.

"Because?" He pressed, knowing full-well she wouldn't be able to come up with a valid and convincing reason.

"Because I..." She faltered again. Her inner struggle between the budding emotions she denied she was feeling for him and the logical reasoning that it was for her assignment was frustrating her.

"Because you want me to?" Sasuke asked, unsure, raising an eyebrow and cocking his head slightly. He appeared slightly bemused in a, that would be hilarious and sad, kind of way.

Sakura's breath caught as she observed this new reaction. A pure, interested, curiosity displayed just for her.

"No, that's ridiculous!" She laughed nervously, trying as much to convince him as she tried to convince herself.

"What, then?" He pressed.

_Is that disappointment in his voice? _Sakura wondered, suddenly quite confused.

"Because I-I think, whether you want to admit it to yourself or not, you want to go." She said, smirking slightly that she had come up with an answer to cover up her own uncomfortable debate.

"What?" He asked, disbelief displayed clearly on his features, "You can't be serious."

The rest of the group had reached the main gates to Sasuke's home and were beginning to turn down the street.

"Come on, let's just go, we're falling behind," Sakura urged, tugging lightly again on his sleeve.

"No thanks." Sasuke refused stubbornly.

"Listen, if you do this one thing for me, just this once, I'll leave you alone for the rest of the week." Sakura attempted to bargain and quell her growing frustration all at once.

This was very intriguing to the Uchiha.

_No bothersome annoyance for the rest of the week? That's almost too good to be true..._

"Fine." He muttered, finally pulling his arm free and pushing past her.

Sakura smiled as she hurried to catch up with him, quickly falling into step beside him.

"Thank you," She whispered quietly. Sasuke appeared to ignore her.

They followed the rest of the group at a distance. Sakura observed them, wondering what they were discussing. A moment later, Naruto appeared to trip on something, and fell flat on his face. The group laughed simultaneously as Kiba helped him to his feet, and Sakura give a little giggle.

"Why don't you go join them?" Sasuke asked her, more out of annoyance than out of consideration.

"Because I want to make sure you hold up your end of the bargain and don't go slipping back to your house." She replied casually.

"I'll keep following. Go." He nodded towards where he could sense the group was ahead of them.

"Nah. I'm fine." She waved his suggestion off.

"Really, I insist." He pushed.

"Am I really so annoying to you that I can't even walk beside you?"

"Honestly? " He questioned, waiting to see if she would reply. When she seemed to wait for him to continue, he said, "Yes."

Sakura stopped walking and turned towards him. He paused as well, but didn't bother to give her his full attention.

"Why is that?" She asked, innocently curious.

Sasuke was taken aback by the lack of anger in her voice. She sounded as though she truly wanted to know the answer.

They continued walking to keep pace with the group ahead of them as Sakura waited patiently for him to say something. When a few minutes had passed, she posed the question again.

"What is it about me that makes your skin crawl just to be near me?"

It was deceiving how calm and innocent she was keeping her voice. Sasuke couldn't even hear the usual quickening of her heart beat that would normally occur whenever she was angered.

Still, he did not answer.

"Tell me." She pressed once more.

Sasuke stopped, and turned towards her aura.

"Everything." He answered truthfully. In reality, it was the first time he himself had even truly considered why she bothered him so much.

Sakura's jaw dropped as anger and hurt stabbed through her calm facade. She struggled to compose herself before continuing.

"Like?"

"Like...Your aura."

"My what now?"

"The invisible energy you emit simply from being a living organism." He explained, as they continued walking.

"What's wrong with my energy?"

"It's..." Sasuke began, "You know what, forget it. You won't understand."

"Try me."

"Let me rephrase. It's not important that you know. Just as long as you keep your distance and quit bothering me, we'll be fine."

"It's important to me that I know." Sakura rebutted.

"That's too bad." Sasuke shrugged.

"You're infuriating." Sakura sighed.

"You're one to talk." He mumbled sarcastically.

"Fine, don't explain the aura-thing. Whatever. Just tell me what else about me bothers you." Sakura tried to negotiate.

"Your voice. Your smell. Your personality. Your constant intrusion in my life. The list goes on."

Sakura hadn't braced herself for his honest answer. He hadn't even hesitated.

He never cared about the consequences. He never cared about the people he may hurt.

They continued on, without her saying anything. Sasuke wondered how she had taken that bit of information for a brief moment, before realizing he shouldn't care how she felt, regardless of whether he'd mostly wanted to know if he had finally been able to shut her up.

Ahead of them, TenTen had just thrown a kunai straight into a bush, barely missing an innocent squirrel. From what Sakura could tell, the weapons specialist was taking all precaution against anything that moved in case the ANBU did in fact decide to interfere.

And yet even with this distraction, Sakura couldn't let go of the last words the Uchiha had spoken. She was dwelling on them and mulling them over in her mind. She could barely believe anyone could be so openly callous. At the same time, she was trying her best to suppress the sadness that threatened her sanity. Why should she feel so depressed after hearing the confirmation that he truly despised her very being?

Sadness soon mixed with anger as she tried to turn her depression towards the feelings of frustration she had learned she could hide her true emotions behind.

Sakura focussed her attention on Choji who was busy munching away on what seemed to be his sixth bag of chips. Observing his typical behaviour was her way of trying to return some semblance of normalcy to her life at that moment...It was her way of trying to remind herself that tonight was to be spent having fun, and not dwelling upon the boy at her side.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity to the distraught kunoichi, they arrived at the small restaurant. As she and Sasuke neared the rest of the group, Sakura could hear Naruto's loud complaints that they should have visited Ichiraku's.

As they entered, Sakura noted the restaurant was definitely nothing fancy. It was quite simple, and decently clean. They all sat around a large round table that was decorated with slightly tacky floral dishware.

As they ordered, and began to strike up conversations with one another, enjoying fizzy beverages and laughing at jokes, the night was finally beginning to pick up for Sakura.

She let go of her inner turmoil and resigned herself to enjoying the company of her friends and the massive amounts of food that lay before them. She had, after all, been given the chance to live another day.

After only twenty minutes, everyone seemed to be fully enjoying themselves. Everyone, except Uchiha Sasuke, who was quick to remove himself from the table with the excuse of having to use the washroom.

As another twenty minutes trickled by, and the table was soon cleared of much of the food they had previously ordered, the waitress came around again, asking if they'd like anything else, and refills on their drinks.

"I'll take another order of the chicken and rice dinner, some fries, a milkshake, some of those pork dumplings, and a piece of chocolate cake," Choji requested.

The rest of the group, and even the waitress, sweat dropped.

"Sure..." She said, trying to keep a pleasant smile on her face.

"Think you wanna leave some food in the kitchen for the rest of us?" Shikamaru joked. Choji gave him 'the look' and Shikamaru looked away, mumbling, "Troublesome," under his breath.

As Naruto struggled to pick out one of two different flavours of ramen, Ino leaned towards Sakura.

"Hey, what about Sasuke? He's been gone for a while and he hasn't eaten a single thing yet...We should order something for him." She suggested.

Sakura simply nodded, not really feeling entirely sympathetic towards Sasuke's probable hunger at that moment.

"Could we perhaps get a cheeseburger or something for our friend? He's just in the washroom, he'll be back in a minute." Ino asked the waitress, who was close to strangling Naruto for his annoying indecision.

"No, he doesn't like cheeseburgers. He's more of a stir-fry eater than anything." Sakura interjected in a matter-of-fact tone and not looking up from the menu she'd been scanning.

Everyone turned and gaped at her.

Sakura blushed furiously as she felt the change in atmosphere, and their questioning looks boring into her.

"What?" She asked them all, finally looking up.

"Seems you're closer to him than you've been letting on!" Ino giggled, clearly teasing her friend as the waitress walked away, assuming they were done ordering for now.

Tenten also smiled knowingly towards Sakura, as she continuously twirled a fork in her hand.

"Aww, Sakura-san! Why do you care about him? He has no spirit of youth!" Rock Lee protested.

"What?" Sakura asked, astonished Lee could insinuate such a thing.

"Oh, come on Sakura, it's written all over your face!" Ino chimed in.

"Okay, seriously, what are you guys talking about?" Sakura feigned ignorance.

"You've been acting differently since you started the job at the Uchiha's. Is something going on?" Ino, who was smiling widely, winked at Sakura.

"Like what exactly?" Sakura demanded, agitation creeping into her voice.

"You know...Something between you and him." Tenten pursued.

"That's ridiculous. Completely." Sakura tried to convince them.

"I'm not so sure! You seem to have a thing for him." Kiba piped up.

"Oh, no way in hell. Nuh-uh. Definitely not." Sakura denied whole-heartedly, although she knew somehow she was failing to convince anyone. Even Neji seemed to be smirking in a knowing way.

"Aww, Sakura you love him!" Ino continued her teasing.

"Are you insane!" Sakura yelled, gaining the full attention of the few other customers there were, the owner of the restaurant, and all of the waitresses.

Xxx

Sasuke stood in front of the mirror in the restaurant's bathroom. Anyone who did not know him would have assumed he was observing his reflection. But of course, he could observe nothing but pitch black.

Sasuke felt around for the sink. He hadn't really needed to use the washroom...He had simply needed to get away. The situation that he had landed himself in had been one of the last scenarios he could have ever imagined he would ever have to deal with.

He turned the tap and let the cool water wash over his hands. He cupped them together and gathered some to splash upon his face.

He reached around and grabbed some paper towels and dried the icy liquid from his face. He stood there, listening.

He could hear the sounds of people laughing, talking, and eating back in the dining room.

_What am I doing here...I don't belong here._

No one had even seemed to notice he had been missing for over ten minutes. Not a soul in that room cared at all that he even existed. He imagined he was invisible to the group he'd accompanied.

_Not that it even matters..._He reminded himself, _I'm always alone, and like it that way._

He didn't care to talk about food, or how troublesome life was. He didn't care to discuss weaponry, or canines, or destiny, or to ramble on about the spirit of youth. He didn't want to talk about how he felt, or whether he enjoyed shopping. He simply didn't fit in a social setting.

He certainly didn't fit in with any of them.

_It doesn't even matter. I don't need any of them._ He convinced himself again.

Still, a voice in the back of his mind questioned the verity of his thoughts. If it was true that none of it mattered, why did he have to constantly reassure himself?

"I've got to get out of here." He said stoically, "No one's going to notice."

_Sakura might..._the voice in the back of his mind suggested. He shrugged.

_Like I care. I don't give a damn about her. _

Xxx

"I can see it in your eyes!" Ino giggled again, "It's sooo obvious."

"Yeah, and I mean, come on, he's letting you stay at his place! He really doesn't seem to mind you at all..." Tenten added.

"Maybe the ice block is warming up to you," Naruto suggested.

"Who knew that two completely opposite people would end up together?" Ino asked the rhetorical question a little too loudly.

Rock Lee seemed to be sulking in a corner. Naruto was half-conversing, half-engulfing his precious ramen. Hinata was watching Sakura being put under so much pressure and praying that she would never have to be faced with a similar scenario, particularly not around Naruto. Choji was, of course, devouring plate upon plate of food. Shikamaru was groaning inwardly at how women could be so troublesome. Kiba was dishing out some scraps to Akamaru, and Neji had his arms crossed, one eye open, watching a certain girl twirling a fork.

Sakura was getting a dangerous gleam in her eyes.

"Shut up! All of you! You have absolutely no idea what its like!" She was nearly screaming. "I have no choice but to live with him! You all know for a fact that I'm under strict orders! And as far as any kind of 'him and I' go...there is absolutely, one hundred percent, no such thing, and there never, ever, will be! I completely hate his guts! He's the loneliest, cruellest, most cold-hearted bastard I have ever met! I could never in a million years, ever care for someone like Uchiha Sasuke!"

By now, every single person in the establishment was looking at the angered kunoichi.

Including Sasuke.

Xxx


	10. Chapter 9: We Can't Just Let This Go

**Chapter 9: We Can't Just Let This Go**

As soon as the words had left her lips, Haruno Sakura had regretted them. Not only because the sole person they truly concerned had witnessed their confession, but because part of her understood she had been shouting merely half-truths.

And everyone had heard them.

There was a dramatically hushed silence, not just among the friends seated at the table, but among everyone in the establishment-even those who could not understand what was transpiring.

Sasuke stood directly behind Sakura. He had been returning from the washroom as she had reached her boiling point. Her little rant about how much she despised him rung in his sensitive ears.

His eyes were looking almost directly at her, and he smirked.

"Funny, that's exactly the same way I feel about you," He spoke softly, ensuring that she would be the only one to hear him. He turned abruptly, and left.

Sakura sighed exasperatedly and quickly stood to chase after him.

It was peculiar. Although he had been worse by far towards her, Sakura's conscience got the better of her in this debacle. The urge to apologize welled up from her core. It was in her very nature to appease others.

She had to say something to him. She had to try and fix the catastrophe she had made of her assignment.

Perhaps what bothered her more than her guilty conscience, was the reality that in the place deep down inside her, she felt incredibly horrible. While she may have partly meant those words, something was stopping her from believing that they had been the entire truth.

"Sasuke, wait." She called after him, as she walked through the door he'd just passed through.

When they were outside and out of earshot of the patrons of the restaurant, she sprinted after him, grabbing onto his arm to stop him. He instantly threw it back at her yet again.

This time, again, that feeling of invisible lightning seemed to shoot through her arm and raise goose bumps.

"Leave!" He growled.

"Just-stop moving!" Sakura demanded. He hadn't bothered to slow his pace and she was struggling to keep up with him while trying to hold a conversation.

"I don't see any reason to."

"I want to talk to you." She pleaded.

"Good for you. Now get away from me." He nearly hissed at her.

_He's a lot angrier than I thought he'd be..._Sakura worried. She contemplated what she could say.

"I..._Need_ to talk to you." She confided.

Sasuke paused half-way down a deserted road.

"What did you say?" He asked softly, almost hoping she wouldn't repeat her words. He'd never heard such a loaded statement before. He was unsure how to react, besides in his usual, callous way.

"I needto talk to you." She repeated, more confidently this time. It seemed she was piquing his interest. "Please, I need to explain myself."

Huge Sakura trees loomed above them, filling Sasuke's nostrils with their intoxicatingly sweet scent.

He wondered whether some higher being didn't think it was enough to punish him just with the girl's scent alone.

He could hear the sound of her breathing behind him.

Sakura was momentarily distracted by the beauty of the blossoms. Even at a time like this, she could acknowledge the power of her namesake to calm her soul.

"Won't you just make things worse? You seem to have a knack for that." He said.

At this, Sakura had the urge to turn him to face her. As her hand took hold of his shoulder in order to do so, shivers ran up and down her spine. The constant recurrence of this electric phenomenon was beginning to scare her.

"What's wrong with you?" She asked him, "Is it so hard to let someone in, even just a little?"

"What's wrong with me? Shouldn't you be asking what's wrong with you?" Sasuke countered. He was bothered by the way her words had affected him, in the restaurant, and now. It wasn't as if she had been spinning lies. She was right. He was exactly as she had described him. And he definitely would never let anyone in. Perhaps it was because of this, the way she could understand him-the way she could come to know him as well as he knew himself, in such a short period of time, that he was perturbed.

And while he knew it was the truth, having her acknowledge her feelings openly, and having him hear how deeply she hated him, had affected him in a way that worried him more than anything.

"I can't stand you. I can't stand to be around you any more than you can stand to be around me." She answered. "That's what's wrong with me."

"If we feel the same way, then there isn't a problem, is there? Just stay out of my life."

"You keep telling me to leave you alone when you know full well I can't do that. I mean really, you can tell me until you're blue in the face and I'm not just about to just drop this. We're just going to have to-" She was interrupted as Sasuke clapped a hand over her mouth to stop her from talking, using her voice to easily pinpoint its source. He ran his second hand down her arm, judging by its length where her waist may be. He made to move behind her, securing her waist, before he leapt off behind the nearest line of trees (detectable by their 'stench'), pulling her along with him.

Sakura was too stunned to understand or even react to what Sasuke was trying to do. Electricity surged between every point of contact their bodies made.

As Sasuke pulled her behind a tree, he released his hold on her waist, and turned to pin her against the rough bark. With his hand still pressed against her lips, he huddled over her, seemingly shielding her from something she was not yet aware of.

Sakura stayed incredibly still, not daring to make a sound, as she sensed danger near by.

With Sasuke's acute sense of hearing, the approach of the three ANBU could be heard long before they arrived on the scene. As Sakura waited, she took in all of Sasuke's peppermint scent, which in such close proximity even overwhelmed that of the cherry blossoms.

As the ANBU appeared on the deserted street where the two had been mere minutes before, Sasuke pressed closer towards Sakura. They had paused momentarily to try and appease the one ANBU who could swear he'd sensed something in this deserted part of the Uchiha District. They seemed to decide to split up and search the surrounding area. Sasuke could both sense their powerful auras and hear the fast approach of one of the masked hunters. Simultaneously, as the ANBU neared their hiding place, Sasuke shuffled himself and Sakura around the tree, keeping out of the line of sight of their enemy.

Sakura fought hard not to make a sound. She was trembling slightly, fearful for both their lives.

Sasuke's breath tickled her ear as they waited for the ANBU to leave. It took several more desperate minutes before they seemed to decide there was nothing of interest here, and moved on.

"I can't sense them anymore. They're gone." Sasuke whispered into her ear. Goose bumps spread along Sakura's skin at his words.

A long minute ticked by before Sakura pulled herself free.

"Thank you." She whispered, still too scared to raise the level of her voice.

Even after everything that had transpired, Sasuke had once again saved her from the wrath of the mistaken ANBU.

_Why are things so messed up? Why am I so scared? Why do I have to burden him with my protection?_

"...Let's just go." Sasuke muttered before he turned away and headed back to the street.

Sakura reached up and gently touched her lips before turning to follow after him.

Xxx

Nearly a half-hour later, Sakura found herself back in the Uchiha home, not having said another word to Sasuke. She made to sit on the couch, while Sasuke, as always, reached the bottom of the stairs, no doubt with the intention to head back to his room.

"You're disappearing again, huh?"Sakura asked, not really expecting an answer, and mostly talking to herself.

Sasuke smirked as he turned to face her.

"I'm too much of a cold-hearted bastard to do much else." He replied, sarcasm seething through his words with full intent to sting the annoying girl.

"Why do you have to be like that? Would it kill you to carry on a normal conversation?" She demanded, exasperated with the Uchiha's ways.

"You tell me...You seem to think you've got me all figured out." He took a few steps towards her voice, finding the doorway to the living room and casually leaning against the frame.

Sakura just shook her head, knowing he wouldn't be able to perceive the motion.

_I honestly can't believe this guy. One minute he saves my life, next minute he hates my guts. And the next still he's throwing insults left and right..._

She peeked over at a clock above the fireplace. It was still early enough that she could easily guess the rest of her night would drag on with the burden of boredom.

"I'm only calling it how I see it." Sakura remarked to the Uchiha, trying to keep the conversation going in an attempt to delay the torture. Her initial regret of taking the job was returning in full force the more she realized it was going to be the hardest thing she'd ever done. With the added stress from the ANBU pressure and with no idea what was delaying the Hokage, while Kakashi worked day and night to try and reign in the orders flying out to the ANBU by the village elders, Sakura almost felt her special assignment should have been delayed as well. Although, she would be in infinite more trouble if she had tried to hide out at her home, endangering her family by association.

It was like she was being imprisoned all over again, with added duties and a little more breathing room.

Added to all the commotion, was the fact that she, nor Sasuke, had had any team training since she'd started living with him. It was definitely negatively affecting her psyche, and she could only guess what it was doing to the Uchiha who took much pride in his on-par abilities and the immense effort he would always put into the training sessions and missions.

"Do me a favour, quit calling anything." Sasuke quipped, before he seemed to decide the conversation was over and turned to head back towards the stairs.

_Who does she think she is? Coming in here and messing things up...Pretending like she knows me or something. Useless girl. _Sasuke brooded.

"You know..." Came Sakura's voice as he realized she'd followed him out of the living room, "We can continue to exchange verbal blows all we like but it's not really going to get us anywhere...Why don't we try with our fists?"

"Are you mental?" Sasuke had stopped to look at her with what seemed to be his best astounded expression.

"No, I think it's actually pretty reasonable. Look, we haven't had any proper training for ages now...Why don't we spar to get some frustration out...Vent a little? I hear it's pretty healthy." Sakura suggested, further explaining her intentions.

"I don't 'vent'." Sasuke made quotation signs with his fingers as he spoke, his same look of, 'are you for real?' evident upon his features.

"Naw, you don't say..." Sakura laughed, rolling her eyes, "You're more edgy than anyone I know."

"You know, _you _don't quite seem to get it. Even if I, say, wanted to train, the last person on this planet I'd like to partner up with to do so, would be you. Get the picture yet?" Sasuke demanded in his usual rude tones.

Sakura laughed, "If you think saying things like that are going to get me to stop pestering you, you're greatly mistaken. I'm not going to allow you to get under my skin so easily anymore." She crossed her arms and raised her chin in defiance, soon realizing he couldn't see her little show of courage.

Although, she also didn't realize he could feel the defiance radiating from her aura.

"Quit being so damned relentless."

Sakura laughed again.

"Haruno Sakura, the Relentless. I like it." She smiled, trying her hardest to change every rude thing he could throw at her into something positive.

"Tch." Sasuke's agitation was undoubtedly growing.

"So what are you, afraid or something?" Sakura provoked him yet again.

"Afraid of what?" Sasuke was genuinely confused.

"Of sparring with The Relentless One," Sakura joked, although she knew he'd never appreciate any sort of kidding around.

"Yeah right. The only thing I'm afraid of is your sanity. If you weren't so messed up with that ANBU business I'd have called the special task force of medic-nin to come and take you away." Sasuke rebutted.

"Sure, whatever you chicken!" Sakura teased, thoroughly enjoying this.

"I'm not a _chicken,_" Sasuke struggled to get the word out. He couldn't believe he even uttered it.

"Whatever you say," Sakura giggled, knowing she could easily use Sasuke's anger to provoke him into sparring with her, "Let's just do this, outside in the back yard." She pushed him forwards towards the kitchen before passing him and heading to the sliding doors that led to the yard.

As she unlocked the door, slid it open, and stepped out into the garden, Sasuke felt her aura waver at the same moment he smelled the cool damp air, and heard the distant rumbling of thunder.

"Having second thoughts?" He asked, smirking knowingly.

"Never," She gulped, as she let the rain dampen down her clothes and hair.

Sasuke, intrigued by her complete perseverance, followed her.

As soon as he'd taken a foot outside, he too became drenched. It was a constant down pour. He half-expected the nuisance of a girl to change her mind at any moment.

But she didn't.

For Sasuke, the rain was both as beneficial during training, as it was a detriment. He wouldn't be able to smell anything precisely thanks to the dampness in the air, nor would he be able to efficiently sense her aura. He would have to rely entirely on his sense of hearing in order to perceive those areas where the rain faltered from bouncing off her body.

It was primarily due to his focussed calculations that Sasuke didn't sense the kick that knocked him off his feet as Sakura wouldn't delay the sparring any longer in case Sasuke backed out.

She had to get him angry enough for him to want to keep at it.

Sakura leapt away from the blind boy soon afterwards, throwing the bandana away, and tearing off the bottoms of her cargos to increase her mobility. The heavy fabric only weighed her down. She quickly tied her hair back as she landed nimbly on the branch of a tree that skirted the edges of the forest behind the Uchiha home.

Now thoroughly covered in mud, Sasuke jumped quickly back to his feet, standing incredibly still in the attempt to pinpoint her location and her next movements.

He heard the beat of the rain falter to the left, a few feet away, and higher up in the air than he had been anticipating.

_She's in the trees, _he guessed.

Using his ability to identify any changes in the pattern of the rain to outline any objects that were around him, Sasuke dashed nimbly towards her position, aiming a well backed punch in her direction.

He felt his knuckles graze her arm and heard a gasp of surprise.

_How did he know I was here? I haven't made a sound! _

Sasuke observed, through the sounds of the rain that she was slender, weighing very little, and well toned. Although her more precise features were impossible to discern, the knowledge of the complete shape of her body would be valuable if he was going to win this match.

_I guess I'll have to be more serious about this, _Sakura thought, as she bounded away from him at an incredible speed, deciding it was best for her to keep up her little game of cat and mouse so she could better gauge his abilities. Although they'd trained together on many occasions, it had always been rather cooperatively and never with the intention to harm one another. This was a whole new experience.

As Sasuke caught up with her easily, she made an identical shadow clone of herself to draw his attention while she turned around to face him, using a tree to propel her jump as she kicked downwards. This tactic would have worked perfectly had he not been one step ahead of her, dispatching the clone with a quick flick of a shiruken and sidestepping her attack at the last possible second.

Suddenly growing frustrated, Sakura realized too late that she was falling to the ground with the clumsy speed and power of her kick. Her foot became engulfed in the soggy, muddy ground, and she struggled to free it.

As lightning flashed overhead, she was temporarily paralyzed and blinded, just long enough that Sasuke reached her position, aiming a strong kick at her ribs.

The impact caused her to break free of the mud as she flew a few meters away from the Uchiha. It had caused more pain than she would have expected him to cause her in a casual sparring match. She doubled over a moment as she coughed up blood.

Now, most definitely angered, and realizing the Uchiha had the full intention of venting his own frustrations, Sakura pushed chakra into her palm, using it to try and heal the pain in her side.

Both this action, and the strong scent of blood that permeated from her, gave her location up in an instant.

He ran at her at break neck speed, aiming a punch this time, and feeling his fist colliding with wood. She'd exchanged her body with a stump of wood faster than he could reach her.

He stood, panting with the exertion of the fight that had only lasted mere minutes. They were both clearly putting their all into their hits.

He waited.

He'd lost track of her in that short moment, and now, there was nothing.

Not an indication of movement. No scent to be found. And no discernable flaws in the flow of rain.

A loud clash of thunder sounded, deafening him. Electricity seemed to cackle in the air, and he knew instantly how dangerous this was becoming. The storm seemed to be directly above them, and it was incredibly stupid to be sparring, fighting, or whatever you wanted to call it, amongst the trees.

_Where is she? She can't possibly be anywhere near me..._Sasuke was struggling to stay focussed as the storm raged harder, the heavy rain was numbing everywhere his skin was exposed.

Suddenly, as though she had simply willed herself into being before him, Sasuke was kicked upwards by the kunoichi who had been crouching for a split second right in front of him. She nailed him right in the chin, and sent him flying.

His increased senses were failing him.

He got back up, wiping blood from his lip. This was far more than a simple sparring match. They were both ensuring they were drawing blood. Perhaps it was their mutual hate that drove them to such lengths, or maybe it could be explained away by the way the storm confused the senses... Either way, Sasuke refused to lose to her. Not to an annoying girl.

She was panting heavily, her ribs were throbbing, as she watched him get up. The rain stung her exposed arms, and the mud made it harder to move. The blinding lightning and roaring thunder both added to the difficulty of their fight. Somehow, it all excited her.

Sakura was quickly calculating her next move, and yet, even as she watched him, he disappeared. She struggled to find him again, scanning all areas around her, trying her best to peer through the rain.

She didn't see anything until it was too late.

Sasuke appeared in front of her, as quickly as she had to him, and punched her directly in the stomach so that she flew back into a tree. She slumped to the ground, and struggled to get back up. Her body ached as she knew black bruises were forming in all the areas he'd managed to hit.

She could not be beaten by him. She wanted to prove that she was more than a nuisance. That she was more than an interfering burden.

He rushed at her, and she prepared to block his punch, acknowledging that she'd never get away in time, but at the last second, he faltered, his fist inches from her face.

She took advantage of his moment of hesitation, slipping away from him and backing up against a different tree.

He pursued her, faster than she had been anticipating. He slammed her shoulder against the rough bark of the tree with his right hand.

He had the advantage in this position, yet he made no other move.

He was just pinning her there, not attempting to throw any punches or kicks, nor using any jutsus.

_Why isn't he doing something? _Sakura was confused.

She was about to push him off, but he made to grab her right arm, pinning it as well to her side and against the tree.

He inched closer to her, and she sucked in her breath, waiting for whatever it was he was planning to do.

But nothing happened.

He was just holding her there. She let her breath go, and resumed breathing heavily. They were both trying to catch their breaths.

Sakura couldn't help but acknowledge that he looked devilishly handsome, with his hair flattened, and clothes clinging to his well formed body. Little puffs of breath escaped his slightly parted lips. His grey eyes gleamed although there was no light source. They seemed almost ethereal. They were gorgeous. And yet, they had the immediate effect of saddening those that gazed upon them. They saw nothing. They would never again witness a sunrise. They would never again see the stars...

Lost in her contemplations, Sakura was slow to realize that Sasuke was using his left hand to trace up her arm, to her neck, and to her jaw line.

Her heart skipped a beat, and she saw a smirk light upon his features.

_Did he feel that? _She suddenly wondered.

"What are you doing?" She whispered softly, barely audible above the roar of the rain and clashes of thunder.

Sasuke moved his hand to her lips, as if telling her to stay quiet, but he continued on, tracing her features. He used the tips of his fingers to feel her lips, her cheeks, the bridge of her nose, the arches of her eyebrows, and the general shape of her face.

He was, for the first time, trying to see those minor details that had escaped him earlier. The curiosity had grown too great to fight, and he could not stop himself from his very uncharacteristic actions.

He knew he shouldn't care at all what she looked like. He'd tried to convince himself it would simply be nice to know what ones opponent looked like, and that was all.

But now, other questions surfaced. Having simply discovered the contours of her features, he began to question what her hair looked like, what color it was, what shade her eyes were...

Not that it mattered, of course.

_It's just something good to know...Use it against her, or something...Yeah..._Sasuke tried shaking the curiosity away once again.

He couldn't, however, shake away the sudden realization that Sakura must have been seen as beautiful by those such as Naruto, and Rock Lee. It explained why so many others their age vied for her attention.

Her face was well shaped, her nose was neither too big nor too small, her cheeks were soft, and her lips were supple. Her eyes were big and oval, something many found stunning.

To others, she must have been a real catch.

_Yeah, to others..._Sasuke confirmed, as though thinking as much would stop him from realizing he might be thinking the same...

He continued to discover more about her as he ran his fingers through her hair, evaluating its length and becoming amazed (despite all attempts to convince himself that he was not) at how soft it was even drenched as it had become.

"S-Sasuke?" Sakura stammered, not quite sure how to react to his close proximity, and his sudden interest in her features. It all seemed very awkward and yet, strangely pleasing.

He was taking interest in her, no matter how little it might have been.

She suddenly became self-conscious as she realized he appeared to be evaluating her.

As he let the last few strands of hair he'd been exploring slip from his fingers, he moved in, closing the gap between them until only a millimetre must have remained to keep his lips from hers. Her body was tingling all over, both from the electricity that laced the air, and the currents that shocked her from where he held her against the tree.

"I win," He whispered, as his breath mingled with hers.

He heard her gasp quietly before he released her and moved away from her faster than she could blink.

He smirked as he moved quickly back towards the house. He decided that he liked the way he could get her to react. Her heart had been pounding fiercely, and she had, on more than one occasion, caught her breath at his actions.

He'd resigned himself to explaining his actions as merely toying with her. He would add it to the list of things to do when in need of something to annoy her with.

He might end up being crueller than she could ever expect.

"W-wait," Sakura was calling after him. This time, he didn't pause on command, deciding it was better to distance himself from her for the time being.

A loud clash of thunder almost changed his mind however, when he sensed the approaching electricity.

The lightning was no more than a half-second away.

It seemed impossible, and yet, lightning struck the earth, a mere meter from where he had left Sakura standing.

She screamed as she felt the heat and was blinded for more than a moment or two, as the bolt cracked the air with electricity.

Sasuke, who could only feel that the lightning had struck somewhere behind him, and who could only hear Sakura's scream, could not discern what had happened.

His heart began to pound hard and fast.

_What happened? Did she just get...No...Not even with her luck could that...That's impossible!_

Panic set in as he assumed the worse. He imagined a burnt and mangled body lying at the base of the tree at which he'd left her.

"Sakura..." He called.

There was no answer, just the sounds of the beating rain.

"Sakura." He called again, his voice a bit louder this time.

Again, no answer.

"Sakura!" He yelled.

"I'm right here, you don't need to yell." Sakura said nervously as she approached him, skirting the dark pit the lightning had created in the earth, and trembling from the shock of it all.

"Why didn't you answer me?" Sasuke rounded on her. The rain was making it hard for her to hear him.

"What?"

"I said, why didn't you answer me?" Sasuke's voice was rising again. It was odd. He wasn't even looking in her approximate direction, seemingly talking to thin air.

"Uchiha?" She began, tapping his shoulder, "What's the big deal...I'm fine."

Although it made very little sense, it seemed he had been worried about her.

"Why the hell didn't you just answer me?" He repeated again, anger clear in his voice.

"I just couldn't hear you over the rain and the thunder..." She mumbled, looking almost ashamed, like a scolded child.

"..."

"I'm sorry if I made you worry..." She began. Almost immediately, she knew she shouldn't have spoken the words.

"Why the fuck would I worry about something I didn't even want in the first place?" He shouted.

She should have known better.

He turned, and stalked off into the house.

_Something I didn't even want in the first place..._

His words echoed in her mind. She stood under the rain for only a minute longer. The lightning had scared her half to death.

She lifted her face to the sky just before returning to the house.

"You know what, Sasuke? I didn't want you either." She said to herself.

That place inside of her that she had discovered was not getting smaller as she had anticipated. It was growing. And she knew exactly what she would find there. She was simply unsure if she could trust what it would reveal.

She wasn't even sure if she would ever believe it.

**He was everything she couldn't stand. He was cold, and emotionless.**

She thought she hated him.

**He was alone. Always was, and always will be.**

'Thought', being the operative word.

Xxx


	11. Chapter 10: I've Lost The Way

**Chapter 10: I've Lost the Way**

The clock seemed frozen as she stared at it from across the room. Every tick of the second hand seemed to take hours.

It was early morning. Sakura had risen after a fitful sleep, to find herself without anything on her agenda for the day, yet again.

She sat on the couch in the living room. Evidence of her attempts at entertaining herself was splayed across the room, each object seemingly incredibly out of place in the cold home.

Books and magazines lay around her in piles, each either showing colourful spreads, romance novel covers, or gossip headlines.

A few movies she had attempted to watch were discarded onto the coffee table, beside which multiple nail polish bottles had been abandoned.

Empty junk food wrappers found themselves sprinkled sporadically across the rug.

The pink-haired kunoichi turned to hang upside down on the couch, staring up at the ceiling and imagining she was walking along it.

_Ugh, this is useless..._She thought to herself, righting her position and sighing loudly.

Sasuke had, of course, remained in his room since the events of the night before. He seemed determined to avoid the girl who had caused him so much frustration as much as possible. He had even taken the extra precaution of double-checking the hallway and bathroom whenever he had needed to use the facilities.

It had been more than 15 hours since Sakura had seen any sign of the Uchiha.

It was beginning to annoy her once again. She'd been attempting to keep herself occupied in order to ignore the fact that her assignment had made zero progress and that the Uchiha was certainly trying to ensure that it would continue to do so.

_I've got to at least make an attempt to consort with him..._Sakura established, determined to at least check and see if Sasuke had woken.

Slowly, she climbed the stairs. As determined as she was, she was in no hurry to provoke a sleeping lion. She knew without doubt that an argument may ensue, or at least an unpleasant exchange would be inevitable.

_Just, take deep breaths, and learn to deal with him, _Sakura's inner self tried giving her a pep talk.

"Right..." She mumbled to herself, before knocking lightly on the door to Sasuke's bedroom.

"Leave me alone." Was the reply.

_Well, at least he said something..._Sakura tried to see the good in any altercation these days.

"Look, it's not like I'm about to ask you to go jump off a bridge, just get over yourself."

The door flung open. Sasuke looked livid.

"I told you to go away." He seethed.

"Right, and I've been trying to get you to understand that I can't let you stay in your room 24/7. I must have asked you to leave that damned room of yours about a million times!" Sakura countered.

"You can't let me? What exactly to you plan to do about it? What can someone as weak and pathetic as you really think they can do to stop me from doing whatever the hell it is I want?" Sasuke's anti-authority attitude prevented him from playing nice. He could not stand the idea that someone of lesser calibre than himself was given permission to live with him and order him around.

"Well aren't you hypocritical! From where I stand, you're the pathetic one here. You never face any of your problems yourself, and you've never let go of the past!" Sakura nearly shouted at him. It took so little for him to frustrate the hell out of her.

Sasuke roughly pushed past her, storming down the stairs and out the front door.

_Why does he have to run all the time? Why can't he just man up! Why can't he just be _human_ for once? _

Sakura had never before dealt with someone as aggravating as Sasuke. As fed up as she was with his actions, and as aggravated with his behaviour as she had been, Sakura didn't even notice that when he'd shoved her out of the way, and had made contact between them, there was nothing.

She quickly pursued him, down the stairs, out the front door, and into the seemingly never-ending rain.

_When's this going to let up? _She wondered momentarily distracted by the cold drops falling on her face. She tugged her hood up and shoved her hands in her pockets before scanning the area for any signs of the Uchiha.

She could see his retreating figure not far ahead.

"Where do you think you're going?" She called after him.

Sasuke ignored her. She sprinted to catch up to him.

"So that's it then? You're just running away again?" She shouted, merely two meters from him.

He paused so abruptly and rounded on her, that she barely had time to stop her stride to avoid colliding into him.

His fists clenched and unclenched as though he was suppressing the temptation to throw a punch.

"Why the hell do you care?"

"I've been assigned to you, remember?" She said.

"That's all it is to you then? Another job? Some mission?" He demanded.

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" Sakura glared at him.

"You're so full of yourself. You come here pretending like you can have some bearing on my life, like you can 'fix' me, when all it is, is just you following orders like a good little girl. Did you really think you could change me? Did you really think I'd even _want _to change? The village can fuck themselves for all I care! I'm not dealing with this anymore."

Sakura stood there, mouth agape, for about a second.

"You're such a-a..." She struggled to find her bearings.

"A what? Spit it out!" He shouted at her.

"A coward!" She yelled at him with the full force of her anger.

Sasuke could sense her pink aura flaring and could easily identify her position.

No one had ever spoken to him like that before.

And he didn't intend on letting her have that capability.

They were standing next to the front gates of his home.

She was between him and one of the columns. In his moment of rage, he pinned her forcefully against its bricks.

"I. Am. Not. A. Coward." He whispered menacingly. Through his fury, he could faintly identify a budding sadness that he could not explain.

Sakura was scared to death. They had both gone too far.

"S-Sasuke, I can't breathe!" She choked out as she struggled against his titan-steel grip. One of his hands was around her neck as his arm was against her chest, crushing the air out of her lungs. His unseeing eyes flared with anger.

"Let go!" She yelled, aiming a chakra-loaded punch that knocked him off of her.

Sakura gasped for air as Sasuke reached up to feel the bruise forming on his cheek, shocked at the force of the impact.

Sakura slipped out from between him and the column of the gates, backing away as angry tears began to fill her eyes.

Why had they let it get this far?

The rain kept falling, soaking them to the bone.

"I hate you." She whispered under her breath, the sounds of the rain drowning her voice. She turned and headed back towards the house.

"Maybe she's right...Maybe I am a _coward._" Sasuke spat the word as if it were poison to his lips. He let his hand fall away from the bruise, before giving a frustrated cry. He noticed the rain muffled the sound, and helped relieve the stinging in his cheek. It was rather calming. Perhaps he would have to re-evaluate his hate of it.

Sakura paced her room. She was angry, and scared. She was frustrated, and sad. She was completely overcome by mixed emotions.

_I can't do this. This might be the first mission I can't do. I can't help him. I'm useless..._

_Not that I should even care. What's the big deal if I fail and he gets screwed over. He practically deserves it. _She tried convincing herself, though she knew how immoral and guilty that might make her feel.

_I hate him. So why the hell should I care? _That place inside of her was disappearing...There was next-to-nothing left to be felt. She may never figure out what it had meant.

As she looked in the mirror and observed her sodden self, she noticed how much she had changed. She wore dark clothes all the time now and barely smiled. She was always feeling frustrated and angered, and was becoming full of hate. And it was all because of him. He was slowly changing her.

_It's supposed to be the other way around...I'm supposed to be changing him..._

She heard the front door open and she knew that he had returned.

She went to intercept him. He would not be allowed to reach his room.

She may not get another chance to talk to him for a while.

He smelled the familiar scent of cherry blossoms waft into the living room.

Neither of them said anything to the other.

_Is there really anything to say? _Sakura wondered suddenly.

What could one say after something like that? I'm sorry?

Sasuke would never say something like that, and Sakura was tired of saying it.

The silence weighed down on them like the calm after a storm.

It pressed on Sakura's ears, slowly driving her mad. If someone didn't end this tension soon, she'd go crazy.

"I know." He said, just like that. Those two words broke the silence, saving her from her madness.

"Know what?" She questioned, a little worried this conversation might turn into another disastrous argument.

"That I'm a coward." He stated simply. Then he turned and headed back out the door.

Sakura was stunned.

_What did he just say? Did he just open up to me? Did he just acknowledge I was right? What on earth..._

"I-I didn't mean to say that...I was just angry..." She whispered to the empty room.

Then she followed him outside yet again.

She found him training in the back garden, like he used to, and she sat in a nearby tree branch and watched-observing his every movement.

He paused for a moment, seemingly acknowledging her presence, and turned his attention towards her.

"You're annoying me. Go back inside."

"I'll leave when you do." Came her reply.

Would she always answer him in that frustrating manner?

Knowing she would not listen to him, Sasuke turned back to his targets.

Sakura noticed the way they had been speaking to each other. It was as though they had only just met...As though they were strangers once again.

She felt a surge of guilt as she saw the purple bruise on his cheek, and wondered what he must have been thinking at that moment.

He probably hated her, but he was very vocal about that fact. He had just finished informing her she was annoying, for what seemed like the umpteenth time...So if it wasn't anything along those lines, what was he contemplating?

She sat there, considering the infinite possibilities.

It wasn't long before her mind strayed to thoughts about her failing assignment.

_If anything, I'm going to have to change myself before I can even think about helping him...I hate the person I'm becoming...Since when did I start loathing being a help to others...It's so unlike me...I never used to argue this much, or fight with anyone so seriously before...I never used to hurt people._

Lost in her own self-loathing, Sakura forgot all about worrying how she may have affected the Uchiha.

_Coward...Coward...Coward..._The word kept replaying itself within his mind, following the beat of the thudding weapons that dug into the wood of his targets.

It was her voice replaying itself within his mind, piercing his skull, over and over.

He could barely recall any other moment in his life that he had ever been so angry. She was bringing out the worst in him.

He stopped, and noticed the rain was slowing.

_Or am I bringing the worst out in her?_

Xxx

A sneeze came from the cold boy who sat reluctantly at the kitchen table.

"Here." Sakura said, quietly, calmly.

He could feel a sudden burst of warmth emanating from the table in front of him as the steam from the food rose. He went to reach his hand out and take the food.

"Don't touch it." Sakura said again, still talking to him as if they were starting over. It seemed to be the best way to mend things. If she pretended as though she had just met him, she could pretend as though she didn't hate him, and she could pretend as though she still had the desire to help him.

"It's hot..." She added, before Sasuke could cut in and start an argument.

Sasuke wondered why she was acting so different from the girl he had had a fierce argument with a mere half-hour ago.

"What is it?" He mumbled. He couldn't tell. He had never smelled anything like it before. He coughed, and then sneezed again. He didn't want to sound or appear weak, but in his current state, he couldn't help it.

"It's...soup." She said, hesitantly. Sasuke didn't miss a beat.

"What kind?"

"My own. I made up the recipe myself. Just try it." She said, a little harsher than intended.

All that came as a reply was another sneeze.

_Idiot. He went and caught himself a cold..._

Sasuke reached out for the bowl and brought it closer to him. He picked up the spoon and shoved a mouthful of the hot liquid into his mouth. Sakura waited for some kind of reaction, but he said and did nothing, but continued to eat until there was nothing left.

_Even an, 'I don't like it' would have been fine..._Sakura thought, somewhat huffily.

He got up from the table, and was about to go to bed when Sakura stopped him.

"What? Not even a thank you?" She asked.

She had tried, she really did. But when he was like that...When he displayed his lack of manners so clearly...She became pretty angry.

"Oh, I forgot." Sasuke began, and Sakura foolishly believed for a half a second that he was about to truthfully thank her.

"Thanks for nothing." He finished.

Sakura's mouth opened in outrage for the second time that day. She was preparing a slew of insults to fire at him when he sneezed again and started to climb the stairs slowly.

She took a deep, calming breath, and then sighed. She wasn't going to argue with him anymore. She didn't want to fight. Although it had taken her a long time to realize it, and although it had taken many arguments, she knew he was _trying _to get her upset.

_I'm not going to let him get to me anymore..._

She turned back to the kitchen table, cleared their dishes, and then began tidying up the mess she had made in preparing the soup.

Sasuke stopped in front of his bedroom door, expecting her to yell at him or follow him up there so they could start arguing again, but all he heard was the sounds of the water running as she began to wash the dishes.

He was almost enticed to go back down there and repeat what he'd said to ensure that she had heard him. It was simply not like her-what had changed?

He shrugged.

"What do I care?" He asked his empty room.

Sakura contemplated the day's events as she finished up the dishes.

Her behaviour had been so unlike her, and yet, what was beginning to scare her was the idea that perhaps she had wanted to say those things...Perhaps she'd wanted to hit him, and maybe he'd really wanted to hurt her...

_Way to go...You're sent here to help the bastard and all you end up doing is hating him and yourself too in the process..._

That place inside of her had definitely disappeared.

She was going to try and start over. It was the best option available.

_**You're annoying...**_

_**Leave...**_

_**It's my life, and the way I want it, doesn't have you in it.**_

_**If that annoying girl disappeared, I'd be more than okay with that.**_

_**Something I didn't even want in the first place...**_

She would forget everything, and start over.

If only she could.

Xxx

_You're the Conversation, I'm the Game _

_Photographs paint mistakes in your suitcase _

_So listen, Conversation, I've lost the way. _

_I want to be the fool in your suitcase. _

-You're the Conversation, I'm the Game by Chris Corner

Xxx


	12. Chapter 11: Let's Not Forget Ourselves

**Chapter 11: Let's Not Forget Ourselves**

A long figure sat on the edge of his bed, arms resting on his knees. The moonlight filtered through the dark curtains, highlighting the bare of his back. His throat was dry and burning, his glands were swollen. His mind was foggy, clouded over from his worsening cold, and the empty bottle of extra-strength cold pills which lay open in his rough hands. He wanted to sleep, to rest, but he was too wired from the medication to lay still. He did not remember how many pills he had consumed, or how long he had waited between each pill before he had swallowed the next; all he knew was that the once full container was empty.

Groggily, he stood. He felt around his room for the chair where he had thrown his black pants and tugged them on. He stepped towards the door to his room; each step was laboured as his body seemed to take longer to respond to the will of his mind. He turned the handle and pushed, dropping the now forgotten empty bottle of cold pills. He stepped out into the hallway and pushed his damp hair away from his forehead. He had a raging fever; his body felt aflame. He needed to take a cold shower; he needed to bring his temperature down...

With the next step he took, his legs gave way from beneath him, and he stumbled into the wall, using it to hold him up. His mind was blurred, and his memory was fading. It felt as though he was falling, drowning. Sounds came to him as if he heard them from underwater. It was almost like someone was talking to him, but he could not recognize the voice...

He quaked violently.

Suddenly, he felt cool hands against his hot skin pull him away from slouching against the wall. It was as if someone had thrown him a rope, so he could right himself, but he was still trapped beneath the glass-like surface of water. He could not discern who was helping him, until he felt a faint glimmer of pink. It was her.

She lifted one of his arms and put it around her shoulders, and used her other hand to support his other side. He leaned into her, thankful for her support. He noticed that she was strong; hopefully strong enough to save him from drowning. The calming aroma of cherry blossoms surrounded the girl, and he could hear her talking, making incomprehensible sounds. She shook him gently, trying to get him to answer, but instead his legs caved once again. It was as though his body was made of paper, easily being blown over by the wind.

He fell into her, and she in turn fell against the wall. His body weight was much heavier than hers, and she ended up being forced down to the floor.

There she sat, with Sasuke lying in her lap, resting his head on her shoulder. She blushed furiously, a brilliant shade of red spreading across her cheeks, as he felt her trying to push him off of her. But he was too heavy, as muscular as he was, and his skin felt red hot to the touch. It was worse than a cold at this point; she could feel his hot, laboured, breath against her neck, and without warning she shivered.

He could faintly hear her heart beat faster as he lifted his head to be level with hers.

His mind was no longer in control of his body, as clouded over as it was. He could not understand his actions; all he knew was he had the sudden overwhelming desire to...

He lifted his hand and slowly slid it up her arm. He continued on to neck, until he reached the outline of her jaw and could finally pull her closer to him. He heard her call out to him, with what sounded vaguely of his name, but all sound was soon lost.

Without warning, the space between the two was gone as Sasuke closed the distance between them, crushing his lips against hers.

Her eyes grew wide, and her blush deepened. The kiss was harsh, without feeling. She found the strength from the shock was enough to push him off of her, and he slumped over once again, leaning heavily against her shoulder.

She kept calling his name questioningly, but there came no response.

His breathing had become shallow, and his misty eyes were closed. The fever had grown too fierce for him to take.

He fell unconscious.

Sakura shoved his body off of hers with great effort. His body was burning up more and more with each passing minute. She had to cool him down somehow...

Deciding to take immediate action, Sakura completed a few hand signs and cloned herself into five others who immediately bent down and together they picked the delirious boy up off the ground and brought him into the bathroom.

There, the original Sakura ran quickly over to the shower and ran the water. Once her other selves had brought Sasuke over and had lowered him to the base of the stall, they vanished in puffs of smoke.

Sasuke did not react to the frigidly cold liquid running over his well-formed body.

Sakura entered the shower and kneeled down in order to hold him up, also getting drenched.

Her hair and clothes clung to her as she found a cloth and immersed it under the hard stream of water.

She wrung it out, folded it, and placed it on his forehead. She cradled his body in her arms as she continued to pat the cloth on his exposed skin, which had only just begun to cool down.

She continued to soak the cloth again and again, repeating the operation ten times over.

It seemingly made no difference. No matter what she attempted, she could not break his fever.

The water was like ice, and her lips were turning blue. She held onto his limp body hoping that with some stroke of luck he'd wake up soon.

All the while, in her mind, she kept repeating the image of him kissing her.

She blushed a deep crimson, and shook her head to rid herself of the picture.

He had simply been delirious due to the fever that was all...

Sasuke's body trembled finally. She looked down and saw that he was waking. All of her previous thoughts vanished as she concentrated on more pressing matters.

The water poured over them as the raven haired boy opened his astonishingly misty grey eyes. He was still warm, though the fever had begun to subside.

He felt her icy hands holding him up, and could faintly hear a cold stream of water pounding on his body. He tried to sense who it was exactly, and where they were.

He lifted a hand and felt the tiled wall of the stall. So he was in the shower. But who was with him?

The person spoke, and all the distorted sounds suddenly became much clearer.

"Sasuke?"

It was Sakura. She reached up and shut off the water.

"Can you sit up?" She asked quietly.

He pushed her arms away and stood. Almost immediately he lost his balance and she needed to provide support for him once again.

"Don't move so quickly...You're going to have to be patient; you're in no shape to walk on your own." She whispered. Silently, she helped him out of the shower, and handed him a towel.

"What happened?" He grumbled. The last thing he could recall, he was sitting in his room, popping another pill into his mouth, what seemed hours ago.

"I-I'm not sure...You were disoriented-about to fall." Sakura replied, as she too picked up a towel. The blush returned, and so did the thoughts of that moment...

"I...Don't remember." He replied, as he struggled to think clearly. "Anything..." He finished.

Sakura stood, frozen in time. He could not remember. A sudden feeling of relief welled up inside her; but as she watched him, there was another feeling, of disappointment.

She couldn't explain it.

He began to feel drowsy; his mind seemed to spin out of control. The drugs were still taking their effects on him.

Sakura saw his struggle with his body as he tried his best to stay standing. She walked over and once again pulled his arm over her shoulders and assisted him in walking back to his room.

He did not want her help. He had never once asked for it. He could manage on his own. After all, he always had.

They had walked half-way down the hall together before he could not take it anymore. He pulled his arm away from her and put his left hand against the wall for support as he continued walking, on his own.

She started to protest, but he ignored her completely.

He was stubborn, partly from the fear of looking weak. If he one day aspired to become a great ninja, to prove his strength, then he would not allow himself to be catered to by a hindrance.

A hindrance who was acting strangely.

Her movements were stiff as she followed him down the hall, and he sensed the tension in her aura.

He came upon his bedroom door and paused.

_Should I ask what's wrong? _He clenched his fists and cursed himself for even letting that thought enter his foggy mind. The strongest ninja would never care about little pests, let alone even think about asking if something was the matter.

Lost in his own thoughts, he hadn't noticed the pest's proximity.

She was standing facing his doorway, but instead of looking at him, she was staring past him, to the floor.

There lay the empty bottle of extra-strength cold pills.

A frown appeared on her once worried face.

Anger welled up inside of her.

_How could I have been so worried..._

"You..." She began in an angered tone.

He was brought back to reality.

"What?" He said his voice still hoarse and his throat parched.

"How could you-did you even-I can't believe you!" She struggled to express herself, so caught up in anger, confusion, and disbelief was she.

"What are you talking about?" He demanded, sincerely confused.

"How could you have _done _that to yourself?" She yelled accusation in her voice.

"Done what?"

"This!" She nearly screamed at him, as she bent down, picked up the container, and shoved it into his hand.

He felt the smooth edges and the label of the bottle.

There was silence.

Sasuke recalled what had occurred. The bottle had been brand new, and now it lay empty in his palm.

He had consumed every last one of the pills it had contained, in less than forty-eight hours.

He had overdosed.

It could have been lethal.

Xxx Forty-Eight Hours Earlier xxx

It had been moments after their last argument in the kitchen after he had consumed her food.

He had coughed and sneezed until he'd developed a minor migraine. His head was throbbing, the blood pounding in his ears. He could not smell, or hear anything.

It felt as though the void was consuming him. He could not remember a time when he had ever become this ill.

He had entered his room, carefully feeling where the door ended and where empty space began.

The door closed behind him with a silent click. He stumbled through the quiet, his senses deteriorating.

He growled and clenched his fists. Weakness would not be tolerated.

He found his way to his bed, and felt out his nightstand.

The drawer opened, though he could not hear the sound it produced. It was odd to rely only on touch.

It was a good thing he hard learned how to cope with his...condition.

He groped around inside the drawer, looking for the one thing that could relieve him. He stopped when he felt the smooth outline of his bottle of cold-pills.

Carefully, he opened it, and popped a few pills into his mouth. He swallowed hard, and with great difficulty.

All he could do was sit there and hope that the medication would soon kick in. He did not want to be this vulnerable.

It was enough torture having her around.

He wondered if this was some sort of punishment, for having been so cruel over the years. Someone must have been attempting to get back at him.

This girl he had known for only a short while after they had been forced into the same team had burst into his life unbeknownst to him.

She was just like all the others. They all came here with hopes to 'help' him.

As if there was something gravely wrong with him...

Could they not simply disappear? Leave him to his own devices?

What was so peculiar about him, that he had to have strangers constantly interfering in his life? There were plenty of others who could have used their aid, and who probably actually desired it.

_Like I need this aggravation..._

He grumbled, and rand a hand through his hair.

He tipped the bottle over and tossed a few more pills down his throat.

_It's all her fault...That antagonizing girl..._

She was always saying things how they were. Calling it how she saw it. And there had only been truth as far as she was concerned. A kindness and happiness constantly surrounded her as long as she was not around him.

Whenever she had been, it was as though she was a completely different person.

She yelled, and fought, and argued.

Not that he noticed...

Again, the white pills found their way to his lips.

With every thought of Sakura, and every thought of his handicap, the drugs seemed to be the only answer.

They could nurse him back to full health. They could solve all of his problems.

He was being an idiot. And he knew she would have been the first person to tell him as much, if she had been there.

He snorted.

_Forget her; she's meaningless...With her, don't-take-any-crap attitude, and her helpfulness..._

And that way she always seemed to be on his mind.

The way she always smelled of cherry blossoms...The way her aura betrayed an array of emotions the likes of which he had never observed before...

_Screw her._

The bottle was half-empty now. He laid on his bed, holding the bottle in one hand, his other on his forehead.

Minutes...hours...All passed by in a blur-the bottle emptying every so often.

He was condemning himself.

It was getting warmer, and he soon became shirtless.

A glistening layer of swear appeared above his brow.

He was producing a fever, and his head became ever groggier.

His throat was burning from taking the pills without water.

Instead of getting better, he was getting worse. He sat up, unable to lie still.

His mind was going crazy. Every thought that occurred to him was beginning to make absolutely no sense whatsoever.

He sat on the edge of his bed, arms resting on his knees. The moonlight filtered through the dark curtains, highlighting the bare of his back. His throat was dry and burning, his glands were swollen. His mind was foggy, clouded over from his worsening cold, and the empty bottle of extra-strength cold pills which lay open in his rough hands...

Xxx Present Time xxx

"Well?" Sakura pressed, furious.

He shoved the bottle into her hands. She looked down at it and continued, "You could have killed yourself..."

"If only I were that lucky..." He muttered to himself.

Sakura's eyes widened yet again.

"Y-you can't mean that." She stuttered, barely believing what she'd heard.

"No one would have noticed that one more Uchiha was picked off the family tree..." His voice was in a low whisper, "Not a soul would have given a damn..." He continued, his voice getting louder, "It wouldn't have meant anything to anyone."

"How can you say that? It would have meant something to some people!" She said, trying to talk some sense into him. His suicidal behaviour was more than she could handle.

"Oh really? Like who?" He asked, sarcastically.

"It would have meant something to me!" She shouted, tears blurring her vision.

_How can he think it's better to die...? _

He just stood there and smirked, shaking his head.

"Why? Because you wouldn't have someone to fix? Someone to fight with?"

He entered his room, trying his hardest to appear as though he could handle walking on his own. The door swung shut as he left his words hanging in the air around Sakura.

Silent tears fell from her emerald orbs, gently, softly.

The earth seemed to stop spinning in that moment.

The floor beneath her seemed to become unbalanced as all the anger and hate towards the Uchiha that had been broken down by an impassionate, harsh kiss, soon resurrected within her heart, obscuring the truth of her feelings.

Sakura soon retired to her room, unable to stay standing much longer.

She lay sprawled across her bed in a matter of minutes, still completely dressed in her damp clothes.

She soon fell into a fitful sleep. Her tear-stained cheeks peeked out from beneath her dishevelled hair that covered her pale face. She remained like this for several hours.

There came to her, through her nightmares, a sound of knocking.

Wearily, she opened her eyes. They had lost their previous sheen, their previous life. She didn't budge.

_What could anyone want of her?_

She was unable to help a soul. She could never save anyone. She was entirely useless. She was simply, something to hate.

It had been only too apparent after the events of yesterday night.

He had her feeling worse than trash.

The knocking persisted, and she realized the raucous was causing her a headache.

She sat up and pushed the hair out of her eyes.

Her clothes were wrinkled and tear stained. She even _looked _like trash.

She clenched her fists, forcing the threatening tears away.

She pulled her hair up, tying it out of her face, and quickly changed her clothing.

And still, the knocking continued.

_Why can't they just go away...I don't want to answer it._

Instead, she exited her room, walked down the stairs slowly, and headed towards the front door.

She turned the corner and nearly walked right into Sasuke.

The knocking had ceased. The people at the door had forced their way into the house now.

Sasuke was holding her back.

Yelling at her not to get in the way.

Screaming at her to stay back.

To run.

It was the ANBU.

Xxx


End file.
